HARRY Arter revealed his shock at "vile" messages he received following rumours he was set to quit the Republic of Ireland set-up.

Last week Sky Sports pair Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson, apparently oblivious to Arter's three Irish caps, mooted the idea of the 26-year-old being called into Gareth Southgate’s first England squad.

Rumours of a potential defection – which Arter and national boss Martin O'Neill subsequently dismissed – spread on social media and the Cherries midfielder received Twitter messages from irate fans which left him stunned.

Such was the shocking nature of the messages that Arter admitted he momentarily considered quitting Ireland duty altogether.

In an interview with Sunday World, Arter said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was Irish people who had looked at a few newspaper stories and come to the conclusion I was about to play for England.

"I never said that was happening and my stance on the whole story was that I didn't need to comment on something that was little more than a rumour.

"Then I saw these Twitter messages and, honestly, it was the only time that I have ever had a thought that maybe I shouldn't play for Ireland.

"The messages were just vile. I was shocked by what people were sending my way.

"Honestly, I had to check that someone had not hacked my account and put a message on there to inspire this reaction."