Blues forward Sammie Szmodics felt he and his Republic of Ireland teammates showed England too much respect in the first half of their 2-0 UEFA Nations League defeat at the Aviva Stadium.
Szmodics was one of three Town players starting for Ireland alongside Chiedozie Ogbene and Dara O’Shea.
"At half-time the manager [Heimir Hallgrímsson] said to us that we need to press high and get up the pitch more. He said before the game that it was important for us not to show them too much respect but in the first half we did just that,” the former Blackburn man said.
"But in the second half we got after them and we got up the pitch more. We started to win first and second balls; we forced them to go long a lot more.
"The fact is that the manager wants us to be positive. We have not had much time with him and while certain things gelled today, more of that will come when we have more time on the grass with him.
"We know now that if you give these guys half a yard, they will punish you. They are a passing team, they keep the ball moving, and their rotations are effective. We were bamboozled for the second goal, their sequence of one/twos.”
The 28-year-old felt he ought to have made more of his second-half opportunity when fellow Town man Chiedozie Ogbene cut the ball back to him from the right, while he accepted he was among those at fault for one of England’s goals.
"I should have done better with my shot,” he reflected. "It was a cutback pass. I like going into the box and then coming back out to the cutback area. The least I should have done was hit the target. A player of my quality should hit the target.
"Then for the Jack Grealish goal, I didn’t stay with my man. So it wasn’t anything tactical. We just have to move forward because, to be fair, the new manager has been brilliant with us and had made it very clear what he wants.
"This result is very tough to take now but we have two days to recover and then we have to go into the Greece game with the need to get a win.”
Szmodics paid tribute to the Irish fans: "The support today was unbelievable. It was the loudest stadium I have ever played in. They really backed us, the fans. They were applauding tackles, even fouls. We managed to get them onside early. We have a couple of days to put it right.
"England are a good team but so are we. We have to play with more belief. We are a good team. And we are an honest team. No one will work harder than us and that is a guarantee and on the ball we have to get a bit better and get used to how this manager wants to play.
"Now it is all about sticking together and putting it right Tuesday. The big lesson from today is that you can’t give away two goals like that to a world class team.”