Ben Wilson is delighted to see former Cliftonville team-mate Ronan Hale shining at both club and international level – and admits he holds dreams of one day representing Northern Ireland himself following his record-breaking transfer to Welsh champions The New Saints.

Hale and Wilson formed a formidable attacking force for the Reds throughout the 2023/24 campaign with the pair combining for 32 Premiership goals and both earned moves to Scotland last summer.

The duo continued their goalscoring exploits at Ross County and Airdrie respectively with Hale earning his maiden Northern Ireland cap earlier this month having struck 14 times in his debut Scottish Premiership campaign while Wilson is now on the move once again after netting 17 goals across all competitions.

It comes as no surprise to Wilson that his former strike partner has gone on to excel across the water and having represented Northern Ireland at youth level, the 23-year-old hopes he can follow him onto the international stage in the future.

placeholder image — Former Cliftonville striker Ronan Hale made his Northern Ireland debut in their 1-0 friendly win over Iceland at Windsor Park. (Photo by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye)

TNS have paid a club record fee – rumoured to be around £200,000 – to acquire Wilson’s services and he’ll now have an opportunity to play in Europe with the Welsh outfit taking on North Macedonia’s KF Shkëndija in Champions League qualifying next month.

Just like Larne in Northern Ireland, TNS created history last season by becoming the first team from Wales to reach the Conference League’s League Phase and performing on that stage could only bolster Wilson’s international aspirations.

"It's brilliant for Ronan and I'm buzzing for him to make his international debut and have a great season personally,” Wilson told the News Letter. “It's brilliant for him and I'm really happy for him.

"He was in England when he was younger as well and he's a great player. I've no doubts that he will continue to do well and score goals.

"It's brilliant to see (him make his international debut) and it gives a lot of boys confidence now that has happened.

"Absolutely (I’d love to play for Northern Ireland). Everybody wants to play international football.

"I need to deliver at club level first and gain a bit of experience there. I want to keep building on what I have done over the last couple of years and you never know what could happen.

"One of the main points why I came here was to experience something new and keep pushing myself."

Wilson has only been with his new club for a matter of days but is already showing what he’s all about after scoring in their behind-closed-doors 4-1 friendly win over Linfield on Thursday.

He certainly won’t be weighed down by the pressure of a record fee and is determined to keep producing the goods for a side that have won 16 league titles this century, including four on the trot.

"I wasn't even aware of that (record fee) until it was announced!” laughed Wilson. “I'll just keep building, keep playing and hopefully score some more goals.

"I played 20 minutes on Thursday and it was nice to score. It will take a bit of time for all the boys to understand how I play and the other way around too. We will just look to keep it going now."