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Gillingham’s Indonesian international defender Elkan Baggott will miss the Southeast Asia AFF Championship which kicks off next week.
Ipswich-loan man Baggott, 20, faced the tough decision of choosing club or country during the Christmas period and will be staying to help the Gills fight off relegation in League 2.
Indonesia are due to start their AFF Cup quest with a game against Cambodia in Jakarta on December 23 before playing Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines. Group games run until the start of January with the two-legged final of the tournament taking place in the middle of the month.
Baggott, who has been one of Gills’ most consistent players this season, would have missed a crucial period as the side look to climb away from the bottom of League 2.
Gillingham manager Neil Harris insisted the decision was down to the player and was willing to support him either way.
Harris said: “I will always support my players with what they want to do, especially when there is an opportunity to play infront of a lot of people and Elkan made the decision that he wanted to stay, he was supported well by Ipswich and supported by us.
“If Elkan would have wanted to go, myself and the guys at Ipswich were going to support him and understand that as well, but Elkan made the decision himself that as much as it is an absolute privilege to be called up by your country, at the moment it might be best for him to stay and play as many games as he can at this level.”
Baggott is the only senior Indonesian international playing in English football and he has a big following overseas. Those fans will be disappointed he isn’t involved.
He is on a season-long loan at Gillingham and he’s had plenty of football with Harris’ side, playing in 17 of their 20 matches so far. He’s also scored goals to earn draws in the league against Stevenage and Barrow and also in the FA Cup win over Dagenham.
Harris acknowledged it was a tough decision for the young player to make, particularly when committing to playing for a loan team.
“That is his character,” said the Gills boss. “I think decisions like this for a lad who has just turned 20, to get called up to play in the South Asian Cup or stay and fight for the team you are on loan at is a really tough decision to make, and all you can do is support either way.
“We were very clear, as was Kieran McKenna (manager of Ipswich), that it has to be Elkan’s decision.
"He doesn’t want to feel like he has let anyone down, it is certainly not that, I know he is so proud to play for Indonesia, he just feels he might be best staying here at this period.”
