O'SHEA RELISHING PORTUGAL CLASH

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Defender looks ahead to Tuesday's meeting in Aveiro

2024-06-07T13:00:00.000Z

O'SHEA RELISHING PORTUGAL CLASH

Defender looks ahead to Tuesday's meeting in Aveiro

2024-06-07T13:00:00.000Z

Defender looks ahead to Tuesday's meeting in Aveiro

Dara O'Shea admits games like Tuesday's encounter against Portugal are the 'ones as a child you want to play in' and described it as a privilege to be involved in, but urges him and his teammates to give the 2016 EURO winners a good test.

Ireland got their June international schedule off to a great start earlier this week, as goals from Adam Idah and Troy Parrott sealed a 2-1 victory over Hungary in Dublin, where O'Shea and Clarets teammate Josh Cullen both started for John O'Shea's side.

The Boys in Green now travel to Portugal on Tuesday night, as the hosts play their final game before jetting off to the EURO's in Germany and O'Shea acknowledges the importance to the nation of getting a good result against one of the 'big boys'.

Speaking to Burnleyfootballclub.com, the centre-back said: “The big nations and big teams are always the ones you want to play in and be involved in, they’re obviously the ones that growing up as a child, you're wanting to play in one day.

"Obviously for your country it’s got that extra meaning to it, you know when you play against the big boys, you want to put your best foot forward and do the country proud.

"We all know within the squad what a win against a side like Portugal means, because a win against one of the big sides can affect the nation massively in a positive way, so it’s a privilege to be a part of.

"It will be a challenge coming up against them as it always is, they have some of the worlds best players but the we all have to be at our best and we want to finish the international break strongly."

O'SHEA RELISHING PORTUGAL CLASH - Image 1

O'Shea arrived at Turf Moor just under a year ago from West Bromwich Albion and was a regular figure amongst the Clarets dressing room across his first campaign at the Club which saw the defender feature 37 times in all competitions.

Reflecting on his first season at the Club, the 25-year-old explained: "First of all, it was obviously really disappointing that it didn’t end the way we wanted it to end, we didn’t achieve what we wanted to do, stay in the division.

"But all in all, it has been a successful season where I have learned a lot, obviously played a lot of minutes in the Premier League which is something I wanted to do when I came here, so personally that’s great. I think I progressed a lot as the season went on.

"I kind of knew myself that it was going to take time to settle in, so once I kind of got my feet on the ground then started playing games and getting into my game.

"It's the first time in my career where I have had to settle into the club, so I’m proud to have settled in and integrated myself into the group.”