West Bromwich Albion midfielder Jayson Molumby spoke to RTÉ ahead of the Republic of Ireland's home match versus England this Saturday.
The fixture marks the beginning of the Boys in Green's UEFA Nations League B campaign and will be Heimir Hallgrimsson's first game in charge of the Republic of Ireland team.
The Icelandic manager was announced on the 10th July 2024 having previously been the manager of Jamaica.
A home fixture against Greece will follow on Tuesday 10th September for Hallgrimsson's charges but attention remains solely focused on England.
Molumby will be looking to gain his 25th cap on Saturday and says there are no excuses for the team anymore.
"We were young lads coming in, but now we’ve got the experience, it’s not good enough any more to say, 'Ah, you’re young or whatever, you know’. We’re experienced now at international level. It’s time to kick on for us."
Molumby is delighted to be back playing football after a long struggle with injury to curtail his 2023/2024 season.
"All I’ve done since I was a young lad is play football, so when you get a big injury, it hits you hard. It was a long journey. Probably eight months to my last competitive game before the start of the season. I’m just happy to be back.
"You learn a lot. It’s a bit of an emotional journey. There’s nothing you can do, just waiting. You don’t really know if you’re going to be back to be honest, because the injury I had was quite a bad one, so you worry a lot. You don’t know if you’re going to get back to the level. You don’t know if it’ll heal properly because that’s always a risk with surgery. It was a bit of a worry but all good now."
Asked whether he can be an enforcer in the middle of the park going forward for the new manager, the Cappoquin man responded.
"Everyone has a different opinion. Right now, at West Brom, I’m playing number eight. I’ve played number six for West Brom, six for Ireland. Growing up, I used to play number six a lot."
Molumby says that both the players on the pitch as well as the crowd have a big part to play at the weekend.
"Obviously playing at home you want to make it as uncomfortable as possible for everyone. The atmosphere itself will do that. As players, as well, that is probably a strength of mine where I try and make it uncomfortable for players. I like to get tight to people, leave a bit on people, let them know I‘m there, so yeah that’s probably a big part of my game, try and put energy into the game, give the team a lift."
"Maybe we need to play the game a bit better, we need to be a bit more nastier, you could say," added Molumby.
Previewing Saturday's match, the midfielder acknowledged the level of opposition his teammates will be facing. But he believes the opportunity is there if the right atmosphere is generated.
"Playing at home at the Aviva will always be difficult for away teams to come. We saw that against the top teams like France and Holland.
"We competed well in those games and for us as a group we need to start taking the next step. Competing isn’t enough anymore, we want to actually start getting points, hopefully starting on Saturday.
The West Waterford man reflected on the honour of pulling on the green jersey.
"I feel comfortable playing for Ireland and it’s something I’m very proud of. I feel ready and I’m ready to come in now."
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