Chelsea defender Gary Cahill admits he could've played for the Republic of Ireland.

Cahill has already been capped by England but he could have been ­running out for the boys in green at this summer's finals.

His grandfather was Irish and that qualified the Sheffield-born defender to play for the ­Republic. It did not go unnoticed by Steve Staunton when he started his 21-month tenure as the Irish manager back in 2006.

Cahill had caught his eye when he was coming through the ranks at Aston Villa and Staunton was a Villa player.

Cahill revealed in the Sunday Mirror: "Steve asked me if I wanted to play for Ireland when he got the job.

"But I said no.

"I had played for ­England teams at youth and Under-21's and it didn't feel right. I ­wanted to play for England."