FORMER Town goalkeeper Martyn Margetson is relishing Wales' friendly in Hungary tomorrow after 10 years in the international wilderness.

The 32-year-old Cardiff goalkeeper was a shock call-up by manager Mark Hughes for the trip to Budapest.

Margetson is unlikely to get closer than third in line in the Ferenc Puskas Stadium, with Paul Jones and Danny Coyne ahead of him.

But Margetson admits he is just happy to be along for the ride, admitting, "it would have been easy to have thrown in the towel," after a turbulent career.

After a promising start at Manchester City, he had spells at Southend and Town before arriving at Cardiff.

He said: "This is something of a 10-year full circle for me. I played for Wales at schools and youth level, then won seven Under-21 caps and a B cap, but since then there has been nothing.

"It has been a long up-and-down journey for me. My first move was from Manchester City in the first year of the Bosman rule and that was a very difficult time for me. I ended up at Southend before Steve Bruce took me up to Huddersfield at the end of that season.

"I have been around the country a bit but now I am back home in south Wales, and when the opportunity came up with Lennie Lawrence talking to me 18 months ago, I jumped at the chance.

"My wife and I are both from Port Talbot, so this has been coming home for both of us."

Margetson has long been considered a reliable back-up but now finds himself holding down the first-team job at Ninian Park, and doing well enough to impress Hughes when he needed replacements for the injured Mark Crossley and Darren Ward.

"It has taken me 10 years to gain some reward for all the hard work. But if you stick with it then it does pay off," he added.