Dara O'Shea - You've got to remember to keep yourself safe and keep everyone around you safe

By his own admission, nothing could have prepared Dara O'Shea for Premier League football. 

“You just have to adapt to it,” said O’Shea. “I don't think that it's something you're really ready for, as such, because the difference between the Championship and the Premiership is such a big gap from what I thought.” 

Despite this, he’s been a regular for West Brom this season. Slaven Bili?, manager at West Brom, has put his faith in O’Shea – something he’s been grateful for. 

“He's not afraid to play young players in defensive positions, which is unbelievable for young players because you want to be playing at a young age and if you're given the opportunity, you want to go out and showcase what you have and improve that way.”

The Dubliner was speaking as a member of the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad ahead of the trip to Pisa for a crucial European Championship qualifier against Italy. However, with the COVID-19 crisis hitting Stephen Kenny’s squad, he may yet be called in for Ireland’s UEFA Nations League game against Finland.

The under-21 fixture has its own COVID-19 issues. Italy’s scheduled clash with Iceland on Friday night was called off, after the Italians were prevented from travelling to Reykjavik due to positive coronavirus cases within the squad.

For O’Shea, restrictions and perpetual doubts relating to the virus are just part of the process: “I think it's just the times we live in now.”

“I think everyone in the camp understands that there's a high possibility [someone could contract the virus], you can't dwell on it too much”, he says.

“You've still got to prepare, you've got to do the things that you've been doing previously, but obviously, in the back of your mind, you've got to remember to keep yourself safe and keep everyone around you safe.”

Ireland’s senior team also fell foul of a coronavirus-related debacle before their Euro 2020 play-off against Slovakia last Thursday. Ultimately, they won’t be at next year’s finals. 



O’Shea doesn’t believe that the absence of Stephen Kenny’s side at the finals puts any more pressure on the under-21’s to finish the job and qualify for the championships.

“I think, us ourselves, as a group, we know what's there for us, what's at the end of the road.”

“We'll be making history if we [qualify], I think that in itself is a massive incentive to all the players.”

“Obviously playing for your country is one thing, but having that treat at the end, if you do qualify you make it to the European Championships, it's massive.”

“I don't think any player would back down from that, so I don't really feel there's pressure on us as such. I feel like there's pressure on individuals, but I don't feel like there's pressure on the team as such”, he adds. 

O’Shea played 90 minutes last November when Italy came to Tallaght for a scoreless draw. He knows what to expect from the Azzurri. 



“Obviously this game, there's a lot of importance to it playing against the top seeds in the group, so we want to go out and we want to give a good account of ourselves and we want to go out and win, that's the main thing.”

Additional reporting by Macdara Ferris

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