I am all about hard work over the years and this qualifying campaign is down to DETERMINATION Hourihane a believer in graft and says Ireland will need lots of it in crunch match with Denmark

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v DENMARK

If he plays, the 28-year-old won’t afford himself a moment to smell the roses in front of a sell-out Aviva after the sheer graft of making it to within one win from Euro 2020.

“I’m all about the hard work in this qualification campaign and the hard work down through the years,” said Hourihane.

“And it definitely won’t be a piece of p*** on Monday, if you want to quote that.

“Denmark are a very, very good side, we’ll probably go in as underdogs and hopefully that might suit us.”

Hourihane puts his progress from Barnsley in League Two to the Premier League with Aston Villa down to an indefatigable appetite for work.

He describes himself as his own toughest critic – and the Cork man instantly knew why he was dropped for Ireland’s last qualifier, the 2-0 loss in Switzerland. “I was poor against Georgia, I thought,” Hourihane said, reflecting on the scoreless draw in Tbilisi.

“And I think a few of the lads would agree we probably weren’t at our best.

“It was just one of those days but we came away with a vital point and it’s a cup final now against Denmark.”

Most of those who will be involved didn’t feature in the 3-1 win against New Zealand on Thursday.

But Hourihane was delighted that Mick Mccarthy gave him half an hour in the engine room, looking on his run out as another chance to press his credentials.

“I wanted to get on,” he stressed. “I love playing for my country. Another cap, fantastic.

“Mick has always been good to me from that point of view. Whenever I play, I try to put in a performance to repay that faith.

“It was an opportunity for lads to stake a claim on Thursday night. The gaffer will decide if someone has done enough but every game is an opportunity to shine.

“It’s good to get another victory for the feelgood factor going into Monday. We had a job to do because if we didn’t win, lads wouldn’t be happy. “We had to be professional, it was job done well and the lads scored well-taken goals.”

A non-playing sub in Geneva, Hourihane got down to work at the final whistle, making sure he made the most of on-field work-out. It’s all part of his ‘every day counts’ outlook as he prepared himself for his return to Villa, and immediate start to his bid to get back in the Ireland line-up.

“All those bits of hard work takes you where you are,” he said. “It’s all been instilled in me.

“Nothing has come easy to me or my family – it’s been a long journey.

“I’ve always had to scrap for everything I’ve got, and it’s where I am now. I’m always up for the challenge of battling for places with other players and when you get chances like Thursday you’ve got to take them, because chances slip by.

“When those opportunity has come along, I’ve taken the majority of them. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.

“Hard work is what I pride myself on.

Even though I’m 28 now, I’m looking for improvement every single day and that’s the type of lad I am.

“if I play poorly I’m in the next day working hard, trying to put things right - working at it, working harder to make sure I’m back in the team.

“And when I’m there, I work even harder again to stay in the team. It’s something I’ve always had.

“I’m so appreciative of being at this level. I try and enjoy it and make the most of every single day.

“I say enjoy it, but deep down I’m very angry and disappointed if I waste a day, because it’s not going to last forever.”

irishsport@trinitymirror.com