Dara O’Shea is embracing what has been a tough return to the top flight in England and the Dublin-born defender finds himself fighting on three fronts over the course of the first half of the season.
Going into this weekend’s Euro 2024 qualifier against the Netherlands, O’Shea is fighting for a starting spot in a very competitive defensive unit, while at club level, he is battling to play Premier League football for new club Burnley, while immersed in a relegation battle with the newly promoted Lancashire club.
O’Shea admitted that he was excited to be back among the Irish squad ahead of the trip to Amsterdam, buoyed by the buzz of intenational camp where squad morale appears to remain on a high despite the poor run of results.
Back at Burnley, however, and playing for a new club and a new manager, having made the switch in the summer from long-term home West Brom, O’Shea admits that it has been far from plain sailing stepping back up and settling into his new surroundings.
"It's been tough club-wise," said O’Shea, speaking at Wednesday’s Republic of Ireland press conference. "We haven't got as many points on the board as we'd have liked.
"I found it a bit tough at the start, finding my feet in a new system under a new manager who demands a lot from you.
"But for me personally, I am learning a lot, it's been great for me to open up to a new club, obviously I'd been at West Brom for eight years previously, so it's my first time at a new club, learning new things, meeting new people.
"I am trying to take as many positives from it as possible, it's a results-based game, we want points, we want to stay up and I think they will come soon.
"He [Kompany] told me at the start of the season that it would take time for me to get it and I am slowly coming around to it, I feel I am becoming a better player."
And while Burnley are still struggling, currently rock bottom of the table with just four points from 12 games, O’Shea has enjoyed a run of games in the starting XI, which sits in stark contrast to where he found himself earlier in the season, sometimes missing out on a place in the matchday squad all together.
"It was tough mentally," admitted O’Shea. "There wasn't much words said to me, to be honest.
"I don't know why that was, I think that's just the way he handles things, I had to get my head around that and work hard, put myself back in the frame, which I have done, playing consistently for the last few games and I am really enjoying it.
"It's not easy; when you are injured you can kind of accept it, you can't possibly play but when you are fit and ready and trying to do everything on the training pitch and you don't get selected it's a tough one to take, but it pushes you on, there will always be that opportunity again, you have to be there to take it."
And O’Shea is keen to take that mentality into the Ireland camp as he welcomes the growing competition for places in defence following Liam Scales’ elevation into the starting eleven in recent games.
"Competition is good, it’s what you want, you want to be pushed," said O’Shea. You have to keep yourself accountable and play well to get your position.
"Obviously, Liam has done excellent, he is doing really well at Celtic and he is playing in the Champions League which is great for him."
Looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter with the Dutch, who can seal their place at next summer’s Euros with a victory over Ireland, O’Shea believes that Ireland have the capability to match their impressive performance from the first half of the Dublin clash, as the team now has developed a certain style to play the same way at home or on the road.
"I think we can, there's no reason why we can't," said O’Shea. "That's our identity and it has been throughout this campaign, it doesn't matter if you are home or away, you have to try and make an impact, silence the crowd and that's a great way to do it.
"I think we can take the start of the [home] game as a massive positive for us. We started the game really well and could have been three goals up in the first half.
"We pressed the ball excellently and won the ball in key areas, so we can take positives from that."
Wout Weghorst proved the matchwinner in that Dublin encounter, and O’Shea is hoping that his inside knowledge of the big striker will help his chances of playing in Saturday’s fixture.
"I was with him in pre-season, he was at Burnley," said O’Shea, of the striker who is currently out on loan from Turf Moor at TSG Hoffenheim.
"I know him, I have trained with him, I know what he likes to do and that's a positive for myself.
"I think Nathan [Collins] has played with him as well, he understands how he plays, he's a big player for them, physically big and he will be a handful but we have to look forward to it, meet it head on and hopefully get the win."
And as for that aforementioned buzz around the training groud, O’Shea revealed that a lot of it was as a result of the arrival of young prospect Andy Moran, who was called up to the squad from the Under-21s.
"He looked really exciting in training when he came in," said O’Shea. "You could see everybody speaking to someone saying how good he was.
"I’ve known about Andrew for a while and it’s the first time seeing him in the flesh, so I’m really excited to see what he has to offer. He’s a great talent and I’m really happy he is with us."
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Watch Norway Under-21 vs Republic of Ireland Under-21 in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
Watch the Netherlands v Republic of Ireland on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this Saturday from 7pm, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ 2fm.
Watch the Women's FAI Cup final, Athlone Town v Shelbourne, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
