Ireland midfielder Harry Arter was delighted to get an opportunity to stake a claim for Euro 2016 inclusion and said he believes that players “need to rise to that pressure.”
The Bournemouth man got the man of the match award for the 1-1 draw with Holland, Ireland’s second last friendly before meeting Sweden on 13 June.
Shane Long had given Ireland a first-half lead but Danny Blind’s men left Dublin with a draw thanks to Luuk de Jong’s late header.
Playing alongside fellow hopefuls Stephen Quinn and David McGoldrick, Arter, earning just his second cap, had 83 minutes to convince boss Martin O’Neill that he is worth taking to France.
"For me this was an unbelievable opportunity to try and do well,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“I'm not the sort of player to be scared by opportunities like this.
“The manager made it clear before the game that there's pressure on the lads, but you need to rise to that pressure.
"For me this was an unbelievable opportunity to try and do well.”
“You're professional footballers, at the end of the day. For me, it wasn't just any sort of pressure. It was an unbelievable challenge and an unbelievable opportunity.
"I feel I gave my all and that's all I wanted to do before the game. I was always going to give 110% tonight, and that's what I've done.”
O’Neill embraced Arter as he made his way off for team-mate Eunan O’Kane on 83 minutes but revealed that he wasn’t singled out for comment in the dressing room after the match.
"He didn't speak to anyone individually, it was more of a teamtalk,” he said about the Ireland manager, who must submit his squad on Tuesday.
“At this point, that's more important. It's not about any individual. He felt the game went well, that we probably deserved to win in the end.
“Albeit, they kept the ball well, but they didn't create much. On another night, we would have kept them out.”
The 26-year-old found himself in the referee’s notebook after a lunging challenge in the second half.
He added: "I was surprised I got booked to be honest. The guy hand-balled it on the line [before Long’s goal].
“In a normal game, that'd be a sending off. It was disappointing I got the booking, but I've been booked before, so it didn't change much.”
