Dara O'Shea happy to fight to play for club and country

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