O’Dowda Aiming To Build On August

The 21-year-old, who swapped Oxford United for City in the summer, has just returned from international duty for Republic of Ireland’s senior and Under-21 squads.

It follows a prosperous start to the campaign for his new club, with five wins out of seven in the month of August.

O’Dowda told Bristol City Player HD: “After the Aston Villa game (August 27th) I met up with the national team and played as a substitute in the game against Oman. It was my second cap.

“It was also Robbie Keane’s final appearance for Ireland and was a special occasion to be involved in.

“I played a different position, from central midfield, for 25 minutes or so. Then I spoke to the Ireland manager (Martin O’Neil) and he said he felt it would be beneficial for me to link up with the Under-21s for their qualifier in Serbia.

“We lost 3-2 unfortunately and the chances of us qualifying now are pretty remote. It was a hard game and I thought we deserved more.

“I was pleased to get a goal in the game though – a header. The last time I scored a header it was at Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy!”

O’Dowda has played in all but one of City’s games to date, only missing the EFL Cup tie at Wycombe through injury.

He says confidence in the camp is high after the 3-1 victory over Villa in the team’s last outing before the international break.

“We want to build on the momentum from our good start to the season,” the Irish winger added.

“Everyone was buzzing after the Villa game and now we need to take that to Rotherham this weekend.

“It’s going to be a hard game, similar to Burton Albion in a way, but these are the games we need to be winning.”