Alan Browne has regrets but knows there is still time on his side to scale the heights.
At 26, Browne should be reaching his prime. After a two year period pockmarked with illness and injury, he still wants to play on the biggest stages.
The Euro 2024 qualification campaign is still a year away but those involved in Stephen Kenny's squad are jostling for position, especially in an ultra-competitive midfield pack.
Flanked by fellow Corkman Conor Hourihane at yesterday's Ireland press conference at Abbotstown, Browne expressed a genuine desire to play Premier League football at some point.
Of course, such a promotion would certainly promote his cause with Kenny.
"Well, Conor's obviously already been there," he said. "Personally, it's an ambition of mine to one day get there.
"I'd obviously like to do that with Preston, but if it's elsewhere then so be it. I'd give anything to play at the top level because it's what every player aspires to be.
"I'm 26 pushing 27, you can look at it that there's not a lot of time left.
"But I like to just stay in the moment - play my current football which is in the Championship, do my best for my club and see where that progresses."
Browne didn't feature off the bench against Portugal in the last international window and came on in the 89th minute against Luxembourg as Ireland finished their World Cup qualification campaign on the up.
His last start in green was against Azerbaijan last April. Two positive Covid tests - one after the Wembley friendly loss to England in November 2020, the second in August of last year - haven't helped his cause.
"At international level you're always looking over your shoulder," reflected Browne, who has earned 17 caps over five years since his February 2017 debut against Mexico.
"If you don't take your chance in that moment then it might be a long time before you get another.
"I didn't play in the last window as much as I would've liked and it's up to me whether I get a chance or not to take it and be ready if I'm called upon."
Browne said that the pandemic has been a frustrating period for plenty of footballers. Analysing his last year, he described it as "disappointing overall" for club and country.
"I think they go hand in hand," he explained.
"I've probably been more unfortunate at international level. I mentioned before about Covid and injuries and I probably fell out of favour.
"But at club level I still feel like I could do a bit more. We've had a new gaffer which has improved things and my form has probably picked up.
"I've still a lot more to give, especially at this level. Hopefully we can see that over the next couple of months.
"I’m looking to turn the page now and hopefully play more, and stay away from Covid for a while now.
"I’d just like to do my best at club level and take that form into the international set-up. There's a massive competition for places so when I’m here, I’m here to play."
Ireland's upturn in terms of results was inevitable, according to Alan Browne.
Having had to wait until the 12th game of Kenny's tenure for a first win, Ireland have lost just once in their last 10 games since the shock defeat at home to Luxembourg, and that was due to Cristiano Ronaldo's late heroics in Faro.
They have also won three of their last four games coming into Saturday's clash with Belgium at the Aviva Stadium.
"I think it was a case that it was always coming," stated Preston's Browne.
"It's obviously tough when a new manager comes in with new ideas, to put that on the players and for them to take to it, it takes time to turn things around.
"Our performances were relatively good at first, we just weren't picking up the results and that's obviously what the focus was on.
"We probably lacked that final cutting edge at the beginning. Maybe it was a lot to take on at once.
"But you could see it all coming together piece by piece and it seems as if we're in a good place now. We're getting the results to match the performances."
