Anna Patten insists Girls in Green are singing from same hymn sheet

Anna Patten admitted she had to hold it together emotionally as she belted out Amhrán na bhFiann before the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2025 qualifier against France in Metz.

Having received her international clearance last week, the former England under-21 defender was thrown straight in at the deep end, taking her place in a five-player back line.

A 1-0 defeat was no disaster, albeit Ireland spent most of the match pinned back in their own half.

Patten acquitted herself well against elite opponents, and admitted afterwards the magnitude of pulling on the green jersey really hit home during the pre-match anthems.

"Yeah, that was an amazing feeling," she said. "I loved it. I had Denise (O'Sullivan) beside me, she was singing loud, I was singing loud. It is quite an anthem, I love singing it.

"My mum was just telling me that she was up in the crowd and she was getting emotional singing it. It was a proud moment for me.

"It was lots of emotions going into the game - nervous, excited, really proud, the full works. It's frustrating now that we've come away losing the game but also there are still positives to take going into Tuesday (against England)."

Every player in the Ireland women's squad takes it upon themselves to learn the words of the national anthem and sing it with gusto before matches.

Patten was no different, admitting she had a little family assistance to ensure she had it nailed down.

"I actually was talking to my granny about it, getting her to help me, but I felt it was so important that I was able to stand there if I got my debut and sing it loud and proud," she said.

"I felt I did that. Like I said, it's a great anthem, I'm really proud to sing it and hopefully there’s many more opportunities in my career to sing it