NEIL Danns has promised his 5,226-mile crusade for international football won’t have an impact on his club form.

The Wanderers midfielder, Liverpool-born-and-bred, shocked everyone at the Macron Stadium last week when it emerged he had accepted an invitation to play for Guyana.

On Sunday night he began a pilgrimage which takes him on flights from London to the country’s capital of Georgetown, via Antigua and Trinidad and Tobago, for a friendly against Grenada, to be played this weekend.

Qualifying for the Caribbean country through his grandfather Edward, who passed away before he was born, the 32-year-old’s international crusade had become a labour of love in recent months as he got through a mountain of paperwork to get himself registered.

And although Neil Lennon voiced concern at what toll the travelling may take, Danns insists he can handle the strain and still be in good shape to return to Championship football after the break.

“It’s something I really wanted to do,” said the former Leicester City man, who has missed the last two matches through suspension. “There are lots of players these days going off to different places during international breaks. We've seen it at Bolton with the likes of Chung-Yong Lee and Medo Kamara.

“It might be different for them but I've not been used to it over my career so I am looking forward to it. Besides I will be back almost a week before Bolton's next game against Blackpool, so I don’t see it being a problem.

“There is a World Cup qualifier against St Vincent in the summer and hopefully I can be involved in that as well."

Danns’ call-up has certainly not come out of the blue, and is actually the result of a few months of detective work to prove his eligibility.

“It’s only just been announced but it has been in the pipeline for the last couple of months,” Danns said. “I had to sort my birth certificate out and then my grandfather’s to prove I could play for them – it’s been quite a lot of back and forth.”

Guyana are ranked 166th in the world, one place below Tahiti but above European nations like San Marino and Andorra.

Geographically, the country is based in South America and borders northern Brazil but as part of CONCACAF they compete in the same circles as Tim Ream’s USA.

But in footballing terms they are many, many miles apart.

Between November 2012 and October 2014 the country failed to play a single competitive game because of a dispute between the Guyanese Football Association and its players, which eventually resulted in a strike.

When they resumed the FA declined to allow any foreign-based players to represent the squad, which excluded the likes of Leon and Carl Cort, and ex-Wanderer Ricky Shakes.

Now under the guidance of the extravagantly-named Jamaal Shabazz, the team is starting to take shape again and recruited both Danns and ex-Fulham defender Matthew Briggs – still the youngest player ever to turn out in the Premier League – for the Grenada friendly.

Danns first learned Guyana were reaching out for players from a former team-mate at Colchester United, Chris Nurse, who is now the Golden Jaguars’ captain.

“He asked if I would be interested in representing Guyana and I said 'yes, definitely,’ Danns added. “I don't think anyone knew I had Guyanese heritage so he let the Guyanese FA know. Eventually they got in touch with me and it has gone on from there.

“I hadn't seen Chris for a while because he had been playing in America (Fort Lauderdale Strikers). But when I found out he was captain of Guyana I got in touch to tell him about my connection.”

His international debut may be in front of a few thousand supporters on a stadium built for the 2007 Cricket World Cup but for Danns, Sunday’s match against Grenada will hold special value.

“Definitely, and it will be a proud day for my family,” he said. “I also have relatives in Guyana who I have never seen so hopefully, if there is chance, I will get to meet some of them. So, while it's going to be great for football reasons, from a family side it will be special too.”