Kyle Lafferty says he blames himself for the “massive” regrets he has about his career, which include feigning injury to avoid playing Northern Ireland matches when he was younger.
Lafferty scored 20 goals in 89 caps for Northern Ireland, his goals helping the country qualify for Euro 2016, but has not been selected since receiving a 10-game ban for a sectarian comment he made in September 2022.
The 37-year-old, who played for Kilmarnock at the time of the incident, was withdrawn from the Northern Ireland squad and subsequently banned for 10 matches by the Scottish Football Association.
Lafferty says that while he does not know if the incident was the reason for his continued absence from the Northern Ireland squad, he accepts he “took liberties” when he was receiving call-ups earlier on his career.
“[I] didn’t turn up at times when I should have,” Lafferty told BBC Sport NI in a wide-ranging interview.
“Not reaching a 100 caps, I blame myself for it, I should be well into a 100. I wouldn’t change my career for a second but there are disappointments.
Asked to expand on his regrets, Lafferty said: “Deciding to go on holiday instead of playing for your country at times. This was like when I was 21, 22, 23, just knowing that I’d done well previously that I’d get another call-up, taking liberties like I said.
“Maybe throwing in an injury where the rest of the team I was at might have been getting a few days off and taking the days off rather than going to play for your country.”
When asked to confirm he had feigned injury at times, he said: “I wasn’t injured, yeah, just stuff like that. Just daft stuff that you look back and think ‘it was just so stupid of me’.”