James McClean has reiterated his strong belief that any player not proudly committed to the Republic of Ireland cause can "sod off and play for someone else".

The Derry man pulled no punches in an interview with RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue ahead of tonight's crunch Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia at the Aviva Stadium.

Declan Rice played three senior international friendlies for Ireland before switching allegiances to England. He made his first start for Gareth Southgate's side in their emphatic 5-1 defeat of Montenegro last night and McClean is very clear on his views about the West Ham 20-year-old's decision.

"He said he was a proud Irishman. Then he said he was a proud Englishman. If he's both... good luck to him but I don't buy it. I think you're either one or the other," said McClean, who played seven times for Northern Ireland Under-21s but turned down the opportunity to commit to their senior side.

"I was with Derry City when I got the call-up to play for the North and I turned it down because it's not my country, it's never been my country. I'm an Irishman.

"It's not just Declan, it's anyone else. If you're not proud to be here and we're a stepping stone then sod off and play for someone else.

"I'm an Irishman. I grew up on the island of Ireland, simple as that. We only want players here who want to play for Ireland, who feel Irish and are proud to be Irish."

McClean has had some memorable moments in green since making his debut against the Czech Republic in February 2012.

On Saturday he played in the first game of Mick McCarthy's second stint at the helm, an ugly 1-0 win against minnows Gibraltar in a howling gale. The Stoke man expects a better performance tonight, and urged the home fans to get right behind the side as they aim to make the perfect start to the campaign.

"It means everything pulling on this jersey," he added.

"The night we beat Bosnia [in the play-offs to make Euro 2016] in the Aviva, that was special. Beating Austria away, the night in Cardiff, great memories over the last few campaigns.

"It'd be nice to create some new ones as well. When a new manager comes in, everyone seems to up their level in training trying to impress. Hopefully we can make it a great start by getting two wins from two.

"It's easy to sit home when you're not playing in those conditions and say, 'well Gibraltar are ranked where they are, you should just steamroll them'. If you're asking me do I care, well I don't. We went and got three points and that was the job we had to do going there, so job done.

"The fans have been great, The ones that fill the stadium are the true supporters and they've always got behind us. We're not stupid. We know we need to perform on the pitch to get as much as we can from the crowd as well."

Watch the full interview from 7pm on RTÉ 2.

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