Mark Sykes didn't feel particularly courageous when he declared his intention to switch international allegiance from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland back in 2020.
It was, as he puts it now, "an Irish player playing for Ireland... I don't see the problem".
Sykes, who represented the North up to Under-21 level, had to wait until the tail end of 2022 to finally make his debut for Stephen Kenny's team, coming off the bench towards the end of the 1-0 friendly victory over Malta.
In doing so he became the first Belfast man in 76 years to win a cap for the Republic of Ireland, following in the footsteps of dual internationals Jackie Vernon and Jimmy McAlinden.
Ahead of Bristol City's FA Cup tie against Manchester City last month, ITV pundit Roy Keane singled the versatile Sykes out for some praise. "He's obviously a a brave boy, he made a brave decision there," he said. But Sykes is much more philosophical about his journey.
"For me it's more so to do with the family side of things."
"I did see it," he said at Abbotstown on Monday when reminded of Keane's remarks.
"I mean, listen, there are many things that people have said and it's a nice thing I suppose. Yes, [it was] brave in a way as there may be a bit of backlash and people not thinking it was the right thing to do, but I've said in many interviews now that it's not them who is living my life.
"I'm out there putting the sacrifice in and hard work in and I made that decision full well knowing what is going to happen. I knew it was going to be a difficult decision because I feel like if I was to stay, which is something I wouldn't have wanted to do, I feel my foot was already in the door and never being around the Ireland set-up I knew it was going to be difficult.
"But thankfully now with club performances I feel I have deserved my chance here and hopefully this week I can get some more minutes."
He cut his teeth in senior football at Glenavon before Oxford United brought him to England. Having turned heads with the Us, Bristol City swooped for his services in May 2022.
Now 25, Sykes is a grounded and articulate figure. He appreciates how far he's come while not shying away from his desire to make a real impact in a green jersey.
"For me it's more so to do with the family side of things," he said.
"When I went back [to the Ormeau Road] my primary school had a homecoming as such for me. It makes me feel proud to do something so good for the people back home, you know obviously being the first person from Belfast in a long time to do such a thing. I was well pleased but hopefully there’s more to come."
It's a massive week for the Boys in Green who face Latvia in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night before welcoming France to Dublin the following Monday for the first game of their Euro 2024 qualification campaign.
Having played in Bristol City's 3-0 cup loss to Manchester City, Sykes has recent experience of trying to massively upset the odds.
"It's going to be difficult," he admits. "I’m just off the back of playing Man City with Bristol City so I know how difficult those games can be but we’re ready for it, you know? We’ll work this week and hopefully we can put a good performance in.
"It's just on a different level. As soon as you switch off, you get punished. I played right-back for half of the game. For someone like myself, I haven’t played there a lot in my career and you’re constantly aware of what’s going on around you.
"Listen the coaching is obviously top quality, the players are worth millions and millions and I think they’d £380m on the bench, something like that, that’s the step up in class.
"We went into the game with no pressure, just go out and express ourselves, enjoy ourselves as much as possible. We also want to put in a good performance and I think we did alright."
It'll be a similar story when the French rock up next week. Ireland are rank outsiders against the beaten World Cup finalists, but Sykes isn't getting wrapped up in the scale of the challenge.
Instead, this self-confessed late bloomer is determined to savour every minute he gets in Ireland camp after a long journey towards realising his dream.
"Nobody deserves to be here just because they have declared for Ireland. I always put it down to my performance and when I am doing well, I feel I deserve my chance. If I'm not, then someone else will be there to take it."
Sykes and the rest of the Ireland players will get to finally debut the new Castore kit on Wednesday.
The FAI officially unveiled the home kit today, with the women's team set to debut the away shirt in April's friendly against the USA in Missouri.
Earlier this month the association revealed a new crest as part of a brand overhaul.
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