Kieran Sadlier is determined to shake off the disappointment of West Ham United's FA Youth Cup exit, with upcoming international commitments proving a timely and very welcome distraction.
Sadlier and his fellow Under-18 teammates fell to a 5-2 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, denying the Hammers the chance to host Bolton Wanderers in the last 16.
Much of the damage was inflicted in the opening 23 minutes, as Spurs raced into a three-goal lead, and Sadlier admitted that errors so early in the piece all but ended their hopes.
"We started off poorly and mistakes cost us the game really," Sadlier confirmed. "In the second half, for the first 20 minutes it looked like we were going to get back into it at 3-2, but then we just gave it away.
"We played Tottenham last year and we beat them 4-0. A lot of players that played on Wednesday played in that one as well. We come into every game feeling confident. But when we don't match them up and give silly goals away, that's going to cost us all the time.
"Everyone dug in well. The whole team got in and we got it back to 3-2 and it looked like we were going to get another goal, but we just couldn't do it. Maybe going forward left us open at the back and that's what cost us, with the pace of their three frontmen as well.
"We'll get back to training, look at the league and the development league and look to push on and forget about it. It happens to everyone and you've just got to get over it. It's part of being a footballer."
Eighteen-year-old Sadlier, a first-year professional, has started 13 times for the U18s this term, with an impressive return of six goals. The teenage forward has subsequently been rewarded with a call-up to Republic of Ireland's U19 squad, for whom he already has three caps.
Sadlier will be joined on international duty by new recruit Sean Maguire, who recently joined the club from Waterford United. Maguire was already a familiar face to Sadlier and with Northern Ireland's Jamie Harney in the West Ham mix as well, the Irish contingent at Little Heath is looking strong.
"Sean's settling in very well," Sadlier added. I knew him before, beacuse he came on a trip to Latvia with me, so when he came over I helped settle him in and Jamie [Harney] too. Sean lives opposite me in digs, so we go out together and we're quite good friends. I'm looking forward to go away with him again. It's good to have someone here that's actually in my team in Ireland, who I can travel to and from with.
"It's good. We've got the European Championship qualifiers in June coming up. So we've got a double header against Czech Republic as preparation games. There's a trip to Spain as well, so I'm looking forward to that. I've got to get these two weeks out the way, play well, look forward to that, and come back stronger."