NELSON midfielder Adnan Ahmed has joined up with Pakistan on international duty – and boss Mark Fell wants it to be ‘shouted from the rooftops’.

Ahmed, who has made nine appear-ances for the Blues this season, flew out to Pakistan at the weekend for two friendlies against Singapore, which take place on Friday and Monday.

The midfielder has previously played for Huddersfield Town, Tranmere Rovers, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Ferencvaros, has been a regular for Pakistan for several years and has scored four goals for his country.

Fell, who is without Ahmed for a few games as he looks to make his mark after his recent appointment as man-ager, said the club are full of pride at having an international in their ranks, He said: “When you look at Adnan’s pedigree it is fantastic. He made the decision to concentrate on his family business and the opportunity came for him to play locally with Nelson.

“It is a fantastic achievement for him and also something the club are very, very proud about.

“It is not every day a club at our level has a player on international duty.

“We are exceptionally proud and it is something that should be shouted from the rooftops.”

Ahmed was born in Burnley, but having Pakistan-born parents means he is eligible to represent Pakistan at international level.

The games in Singapore have been arranged as part of Pakistan’s build-up to the 2013 South Asian Football Federation Cup. Eight teams compete in the tournament – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – and it is held every two years.

Ahmed said: “I played for Bradford Park Avenue last season but joined Nelson in the summer as I want to get more involved in the family business, and the travelling involved in playing for Bradford made that difficult.

“Obviously playing in the North West Counties First Division is a lower level than I’ve been used to.

“But I know what is required to perform at international level, and I know my fitness levels are good, so as long as I feel I can do a job for the team I’ll continue to join them as long as I can.

“We’ve got a good squad and we fancy our chances of doing well in the Asian Cup next year, so hopefully the games in Singapore will be good prep-aration.”