Jack Grealish admitted the reception he and Declan Rice received in Dublin this afternoon came as no surprise.
The pair scored the goals as England opened their Nations League campaign with a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland to silence a hostile Aviva Stadium crowd.
Rice appeared for the Irish in three friendly games before declaring his allegiance to England while Grealish played for their Under-21s before he too jumped ship.
It meant they were the target of Irish hostility but they ended up having the last laugh with first-half goals as Lee Carsley’s reign as interim manager got off to a winning start.
Grealish told ITV Sport: “It was what me and Declan expected. We have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time [playing for Ireland]. I certainly did and I have a lot of Irish in my family, so there’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.”
The Manchester City winger was left out of former boss Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 and was delighted to have been returned to the fold under Carsley.
He added: ”Going to the fans at the end and hearing them sing my name, listen there’s no better feeling than playing for England, everyone will say the same thing, especially in games like this when you know the whole nation is going to be watching.
“Over the summer, it was one of the worst summers of my life because you can’t not see everything that is happening in front of you. It was difficult but it’s given me the resolve to bounce back.
“I need to start playing regularly, scoring goals, and that’s what I did today. I’m still not 100 per cent fit but I’m getting there so from a personal point of view I’m happy.”
Job done in Dublin.
The perfect start to our #NationsLeague campaign in Lee Carsley’s first game as interim head coach 💪 pic.twitter.com/eklMp8SsVJ
— England (@England) September 7, 2024
England were relegated from Nations League Group A and are determined to bounce back and rejoin Europe’s elite.
Asked to assess England’s display, Rice said: “Really good. It was the manager’s first game and we got a win.
“We’re in the league below where we want to be so we know how important it is to win this group. To score alongside Jack, it was a really nice feeling as well.”
Rice also had words of praise for Carsley following his debut victory, adding: “It has been really refreshing this week – Lee has been amazing to work with, his meetings have been top and training has been really good.
“It’s been a fresh start, a change and to win for him today and for ourselves to get off to a winning start was the main thing.”
