Evan Ferguson: At the end of the day, it's just a game of football

It says everything about Evan Ferguson's temperament that he, the 18-year-old at the eye of the storm, was the voice of calm after the Republic of Ireland's 3-2 win against Latvia on Wednesday night.

Ferguson has exploded at Brighton and Hove Albion over the last three months, scoring goals and making waves in the Premier League in a fashion that's turned heads everywhere.

Stephen Kenny gave him fist first Ireland start for the friendly with the Latvians, a warm-up for Monday's huge Euro qualifier against France. His faith was rewarded, as Ferguson bagged a goal and generally offered more evidence of his enormous potential.

After finding the net on his senior debut for Ireland, Evan Ferguson is now relishing the chance to "enjoy the bigger game" with France in the first of the #Euro2024 qualifiers #IRLLAT #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/EksH43KsYU

And yet, the man himself was a picture of calm afterwards.

"It's all just talk isn't it... people getting excited and stuff," he told RTÉ Sport when asked how he'd coped with the hype in the build-up.

"It doesn't really bother me. At the end of the day, it's just a game of football."

The teenager admitted his progress this year has been a whirlwind, one that's swept him up and left little time for reflection.

"It's just gone so quick. There's no breaks, no time to sit back and think about what I'm doing. It's just week by week there's another game. I'm just trying to concentrate on the next [one].

"It was obviously an unbelievable feeling yesterday, seeing I was getting a start. I was just trying to get in, get the tactics right, try to get myself prepared for the game, but always as a striker, on my mind, I wanted to get a goal.

"First half we played well in general. We were unlucky to go in