Jack Grealish has admitted that a burning desire to put the 'worst summer' of his life was behind his impressive return to the England side.
Grealish made his first appearance for the Three Lions since his surprise omission from Gareth Southgate's Euro 2024 squad in June.
The Manchester City forward got on the scoresheet as England opened their Nations League campaign with a 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland.
He admitted that returning to the fold once again 'meant everything', revealing that he used the disappointment as motivation to bounce back.
Asked what the game meant to him, Grealish told ITV Sport: 'Everything. Then at the end going to the fans and hearing them sing my name and stuff.
Grealish made his first appearance for England since his Euros axe and got on the scoresheet
'Everyone will say the exact same thing, there's no better feeling than playing for England especially in games like this when you know the whole nation is going to be watching. .
'Over the summer, I've said it before in another interview, honestly it was probably one of the worst summer of my life because you can't not see everything that's happening infront of you.
Grealish was on the receiving end of boos from the home crowd at the Aviva Stadium, having previously represented the Republic of Ireland.
He featured for Ireland's under-17, under-18 and under-21 teams but turned down call-ups for the senior team from O'Neill.
He confirmed he would play for England in September 2015 but had to wait until September 2020 to make his debut.
Asked whether he expected the hostile reception, Grealish said: 'Yeah, it's what me and Dec (Rice) expected.
'I said before the game i think it's different. Me and Dec have nothing bad to say. We both enjoyed our time playing here, I certainly did.
'I've got a lot of Irish in my family so there's no bad blood'.