Warren Davis: 'I want to get to the next level. Maybe England, maybe anywhere'

Ireland lost 1-0 to the Croatia U21s in a friendly on Friday. They will play the Qatar U23s on Tuesday. 

Ireland’s Warren Davis in action against Moreno Zivkovic of Croatia. Pic: ©INPHO/Aleksandar Djorovic

Warren Davis was "over the moon" to make his Ireland U21 debut in Friday's 1-0 friendly defeat to Croatia in Zagreb. The Drogheda United forward, who has scored seven goals in the Premier Division this season, came on as a second half substitute for Jim Crawford's side. Cian Dillon, Jacob Devaney and Cork City's Cathal O’Sullivan also made their debuts. 

"It's an absolute pleasure to put on the green jersey," said the 20-year-old. 

"I'm getting used to the standard here. I know a few of the lads here that are playing in the League of Ireland, so they're probably getting used to it as well. 

"It's the next step I want to take. I want to be in as many camps as possible. I want to get to the next level, at any stage. Maybe England, maybe anywhere.

"Croatia are a great team. They move the ball well, especially in these conditions. It's very, very hot, so when you're playing a team that's very good on the ball, you have to sit in and pick your moments, pick your triggers.

"It's a lot different from playing in the League of Ireland. I'll tell you that for a fact. It's much quicker, it's much sharper.

"I think I was OK. I think there could have been better opportunities maybe that I should have pressed, I should have done better, but it's a hard learning curve."

A 52nd minute Fabijan Krivak goal won the game for Croatia. 

"I thought for the first 20 minutes, we created chances and we could have been a goal or two to the good," said Ireland manager Crawford.

"But then after that, they took the sting out of the game. A lot of our boys got tired quite quickly. In fairness to Croatia, they moved the ball well and they caused us a couple of problems without creating any real clear-cut efforts.

"They took a shot from distance, took a deflection and went in. But we didn't really have any sort of answer to that. The lads gave everything in trying circumstances.

"You can't fault them with the effort, but it's just, again, a bit higher up the pitch when space is a premium, we just need that magic moment or somebody to unlock the door and give us a goal."

Crawford was happy for the players who made their debuts. 

"They've all trained exceptionally well during the week, so we're not afraid of putting them on," he said. 

"There's no sort of tokenism there, they're good players and they haven't looked out of place and they deserve their first cap for their country."

Ireland face the Qatar U23s in a friendly on Tuesday. 

CROATIA: Sajko; Barisic, Zivkovic, Damjanic, Hrgovic (Tunjic 62); Krivak (Kavelj 75), Durdov, Vrbancic; Jagusic (Brajkovic 75), Topic (Rukavina 62), Soticek (Kulusic 82).

IRELAND: Maguire (Jauny 46); Alex Murphy, Okagbue, Grehan; Curtis (O’Sullivan 89), Mullins (Devaney 82), Lipsiuc (Vaughan 66), Slater; Adam Murphy (McJannet 66); O'Mahony (Dillon 46), Gardner (Davis 46)