Jack Grealish says he has ‘no bad blood’ towards the Irish fans after receiving boos and a hostile reaction when starting for England against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Grealish, and England teammate Declan Rice, previously played for Ireland before switching allegiences to England and both men say they were expecting a tense reception at the Aviva Stadium.
Rice sent the Three Lions ahead with a strong and fortuitious strike inside the penalty area but refused to celebrate before Grealish added a second to secure the points in Lee Carsley’s first match in charge.
“Yeah, [the reception] was what me and Dec [Rice] expected,” admitted Grealish when speaking to ITV after the final whistle.
“Listen, I said before the game it’s different. Me and Dec have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time playing here [in Ireland] I certainly did. I have a lot of Irish in my family so there’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.”
Grealish also explained how it feels to return to the England set up after being left out of the squad that former boss, Gareth Southgate, took to Euro 2024 this summer.
“Just at the end, going to the fans and hearing them sing my name [means everything]. Everyone will say the same, there’s no better feeling than playing for England especially in games like this when the whole nation will be watching. It was probably one of the worst summers of my life because you can’t not see everything happening in front of you. It was difficult but it’s given me more resolve to bounce back.
“Going back to myself, I need to be playing regularly, scoring goals. That’s what I did today. I’m not 100% fit but I’m getting there and I’m happy.”
England are in Group B in the Nations League and need to finish in top spot if they hope to get promoted back to the top tier. Rice spoke about the victory in Dublin and how Carsley has refreshed the camp since Southgate’s exit.
“Really good [afternoon]. Obviously the manager’s first game and a win,” he said. “In the Nations League we’re in the league below where we want to be so we know how important it is to win this group.
“To come here and win was really important and to score alongside Jack was a really nice feeling as well. I think it gets overlooked a lot that we scored some amazing goals under Gareth. For Lee to come in for his first game has been really refreshing and he’s been amazing to work with.
“I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been a fresh start and a change so to win for him today was the main thing for us.”