Birmingham City's Player of the Season, Sebastian Larsson, has been named in the preliminary Sweden squad for the European Championships.
Larsson, who swept the board with six awards at the club's annual awards dinner at the ICC on Monday night, capped a week that began in deep disappointment on a high note by also being offered a new improved contract to keep him at St Andrew's.
The 22-year-old midfielder said after Sunday's 4-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers that he wanted to play in the Premier League but loved playing for Blues, who gave him his first real opportunity at first team level.
Larsson said on Sunday that he could not think about the European Championships, so deep was his disappointment at Blues' relegation, but now he will be fully focused on breaking into Lars Lagerback's full squad and he warned he wasn't going to Switzerland and Austria to watch from the touchline.
"If I do get into the Sweden squad I want to go over there, be involved and play in the games," he said. "I don't just want to be part of the squad." Two of his Birmingham team mates will also be on international duty in the coming weeks. Stephen Kelly and Colin Doyle have both been named in the first Republic of Ireland squad chosen by new manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
The Italian coach has selected a 28 man squad for the forthcoming training camp in Portugal and then home friendlies against Serbia on May 24 and Colombia on May 29.
In addition, tonight, midfielder Fabrice Muamba will be in action for England under-21s against Wales under-21s at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.
When the players return from international duty for pre-season training with the rest of the squad there will be two familiar faces missing. Head physiotherapist Neil McDiarmid and fitness coach Dan Harris have decided to leave the club.
McDiarmid has ended his 14-year association with the club to concentrate on his private practice while fitness coach Harris is taking up a new role with Premier League new boys West Bromwich Albion. McDiarmid's departure will be a particular blow to Blues.
"I'd like to say a big farewell to Neil who has given the club long and fantastic service and we wish him well with his private business," said manager Alex McLeish. "We know that we've always got a friend there and someone we can call on if we need his advice on medical matters.
"Again we wish Dan a successful future. It was great working with him and the players applied themselves and had the utmost respect for him.
"Dan has left a good infrastructure here on the fitness and science side of the game and it's important that we keep that intact because it's gathered momentum.
"We don't want to pull the rug from under any of that just now because it would mean we have to start again."
Blues have launched an investigation to identify the fans who wrecked the goalposts at the Tilton Road end after Sunday's final game of the season. The damage, caused during the protests directed at the Board of directors following relegation, is estimated at £3,000.
CCTV footage will be studied and those identified could face banning orders for the start of the new season.
The club said in a statement: "Birmingham City have received a high volume of letters and e-mails from genuine supporters 'dismayed' by the actions of many so-called 'fans' following our recent game against Blackburn Rovers.
"The club has a zero-tolerance stance on this type of behaviour and are working closely with West Midlands Police concerning this matter.
"CCTV footage has already been handed over to the Football Intelligence department in order to attempt to identify those individuals involved with a view to arrest and a recommendation to the courts that banning orders be implemented.
"The club will also instigate its own banning orders against anyone found guilty of this act."
Head groundsman Martin Kelly has also hit out at the culprits and claims the vandalism left him feeling 'totally numb'.
"I realise now that it wasn't the club's genuine fans that did this as our fans are great and wouldn't do that to their own stadium," he said. "As I watched it happening, I couldn't believe it and felt totally numb.
"Regardless of whatever those people were thinking at the time, to go onto their own club's pitch and vandalise the goals as they did was completely wrong and three days after the event I still can't take it in."
