Nathan Collins said he "wants to be the best there is" after scoring a superb opener in Ireland's 1-1 draw with Ukraine in Lodz.
Collins, 21, pounced on the loose ball inside Ukraine's half, evaded two challenges and scored confidently with the outside of his right boot from inside the penalty area.
It was the Leixlip man's first goal at senior level for his country and capped a man of the match performance in Ireland's fourth and final Nations League game of the summer.
"Yeah, I don't know, I haven't watched it back yet, I need time to watch it back to have a look at it," beamed Collins afterwards.
"But I just took it in the moment, I just took it in my stride...I saw what was open and I took it.
"I just enjoy playing football, I like to have a bit of fun with it and I saw an opportunity and just stepped in with it.
"Listen, it is what it is, I want to be out here for the long run, I want to be the best player I can be and I set high standards for myself, I want to be the best there is.
"I want to keep improving."
The Burnley defender, who made his Ireland debut last October against Qatar, was a commanding presence in a changed Ireland rearguard as Stephen Kenny had to make do without Shane Duffy and Kenny Egan.
Collins, Darragh Lenihan and Dara O'Shea formed a strong back three unit that was breached once, just after half-time when Artem Dovbyk tapped home unmarked at the back post.
For Ireland, it meant they salvaged their summer with four points from their last two Nations League games, having suffered a shock loss in Armenia and then lost at home to Ukraine last week.
"I said it at the start after Armenia, that it could be a good thing that we needed to bounce back and we got a bit of stick for it but the reaction after the last two games shows where we are," said Collins, who featured in all four of the fixtures.
"It shows as a squad how good we are and we still have a long way to go, but we know where we're going and we're on the right path."
Asked how he felt about the result, Collins responded: "I don't know, I honestly don't know. In the last minute it could have been great because we could have got a win.
"But we took a draw and it's kind of frustrating, I would have (happily) got rid of the goal if we could have won.
"But we took a draw, they're a good team and we know where we are as a team as well."
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