Alan Browne has admitted the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2024 qualifying clash with the Netherlands is a must-win affair after they were given the run-around in France.
Ireland produced a dogged display at the Parc des Princes on Thursday evening against the team ranked second in the world, but ultimately lost 2-0 as the Dutch eased past Greece 3-0 in the perfect preparation for Sunday’s trip to the Aviva Stadium.
Asked afterwards if the Republic, who have collected just three of the 12 points they have contested to date, have to win that game to stand any chance of progressing from Group B, Browne said: "Yes. There is probably no hiding from that. We knew that was always going to be the case after the Greece game.
"Coming into this camp, we tried our best to get something from this game but it was always going to be difficult.
"But we’ll try to get the crowd behind us on Sunday and make it a big occasion."
Having lost 1-0 to France at the Aviva Stadium in March, Ireland knew they would have to show great resilience in Paris to prosper and although they did for long periods, they were undone by Aurelien Tchouameni’s first-half strike and a second from substitute Marcus Thuram after the break.
But the scoreline did not fully reflect the pressure imposed on Stephen Kenny’s side as Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, aided and abetted by Ousmane Dembele and rampaging full-back Theo Hernandez, went through their full range of tricks.
Browne said: "It was a tough one. We always knew it would be as they were World Cup finalists for a reason.
"We dug deep and kept the score as low as we could. It could have been more if it wasn’t for the boys showing their resilience in the end.
"We have to shift our focus quickly on to Sunday. That was always going to be the main game coming into this camp and we have to take whatever positives we can from this and we need to shift focus quickly."
In the absence of the injured Seamus Coleman and the suspended Matt Doherty, Preston midfielder Browne was asked to operate at right wing-back – a role which brought him into direct opposition with Paris St Germain superstar Mbappe.
Asked if it had been the toughest game of his career to date, he said: "Yes, up against probably the best player in the world.
"It was tough mentally as well as physically to constantly stay switched on. You don’t get a second to switch off and admire their greatness. You do that when you watch it at club level or clips before the game.
"It was always going to be the case that they would hurt us at times, but it was about keeping them quiet for as long as we could."
