Callum O'Dowda said he was "overwhelmed" by scoring in Bristol City's stunning defeat of Crystal Palace in the English League Cup.
The midfielder is expected to be named in Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland squad tomorrow for the World Cup two-legged play-off against Denmark.
O'Dowda, 22, became the youngest player to start a competitive game in O'Neill's reign when he played the 90 minutes against Moldova.
He drilled home the final goal in a 4-1 hammering of Premier League strugglers Palace on Tuesday night, and admitted afterwards it was a monkey off his back.
"It [the goal] has been a long time coming," he told Bristol City TV.
"The amount of times I've hit the bar or come inches to scoring so I'm just overwhelmed.
"Now I'm looking forward to the possibility of getting a top-four Premier League team next."
O'Dowda didn't feature in the memorable 1-0 win in Wales but he can expect to be in O'Neill's plans for the trip to Copenhagen on Saturday 11 November and the Dublin return three days later.
David Meyler is suspended for the first leg, so an in-form O'Dowda could prove a valuable asset at some point in Denmark.
"Crystal Palace were probably the better team in the first half but when you're winning 2-1 against them it gave us a safety net to kick on," he added.
"We knew at half-time that we had to keep the pressure going and we knew hey would come out with high intensity so I'm delighted.
"We went at it and and the fans were brilliant from the first minute. They were the 12th man and I'm looking forward to who we are going to get next."
