EOIN Toal’s first taste of international football could easily have been a ‘pinch yourself’ moment.

A year ago, the only first team football the defender had played since his move from Derry City had been in front of a smattering of supporters in the Papa John’s Trophy.

Yet on Tuesday night he pulled on the famous green shirt of Northern Ireland in a European Championship qualifier against Slovenia, getting ready to mark one of the continent’s hottest marksmen in Benjamin Sesko.

While Toal and other young Irishmen have been fast-tracked to the senior scene by manager Michael O’Neill after a spate of injuries to some of his most experienced players, the chance to follow his footballing heroes on to Windsor Park was an experience that will live with him forever.

“It was a great moment,” the 24-year-old beamed, back in the bread-and-butter surroundings of the Toughsheet Stadium. “I wouldn’t say I ever thought ‘wow, I’ve made it!’ But the closer we got to the game, the more excited I got. There were nerves but I think that’s a good thing.

“It was an amazing experience going out there to represent my country. Obviously for my first game it was a tough one, but I’d love to get more minutes under my belt and hopefully it is the first cap of many.

"If I keep working hard for Bolton, hopefully that can happen for me."

Ian Evatt had called for Toal to get his shot in the lead-up to the game, having seen the Armagh native become the breakout star of last season and become an indispensable member of his back three.

He had first been called up by Northern Ireland in March and would almost certainly have featured in the summer had it not been for a troublesome ankle injury which also eat into the opening couple of weeks of Bolton’s campaign.

There have been easier debuts – exciting 20-year-old RB Leipzig striker Sesko has eight goals for club and country this season and has been watched by some of the top clubs around, even drawing comparisons to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland. Shea Charles’s 58th minute sending off stacked the odds even further.

Sesko had scored in a 4-2 defeat for Northern Ireland in the reverse fixture, a game Toal had watched from the stands.

This time, he was thankful for the steadying influence of Manchester United’s Jonny Evans alongside him – an established player who may not have too many fans in this neck of the woods, but who remains one of his country’s most important figures.

Toal said: “It was a tough game, we’d played them away from home the previous month, they are top of the group and those two strikers have been a key part of that.

“Having Jonny Evans alongside me was a massive thing, especially with it being my first game. He has more than 100 caps now, so he really gave me a lot of help. He is talkative, calm on the ball, and it was just a case of following his lead.

“Obviously the defeat wasn’t what we wanted but I think we played some good football, put a lot of work into the game, but ultimately we got a bit of bad luck with the sending off.”

While Evans may represent the old guard, Toal hopes to be part of the new. Qualification for the Euros next summer is now beyond Northern Ireland but alongside his team-mate Dion Charles, the Bolton defender is keen to push his claim further.

O’Neill has also challenged players like Toal and Charles to push themselves at club level and be playing regular football in the Championship – a challenge he is more than happy to accept.

“I have been away throughout the year with them and it is good that there is a mix of younger and more experienced players, lads who have qualified for the Euros before and know how it is done,” he said.

“The manager is trying to blend them together now but looking at all the games, I don’t think we have been too far off. Results haven’t really gone our way but I think there is something to build on.

“There are quite a few players in the squad like me and Dion who are playing in League One, and first and foremost we focus on what we’re doing here at Bolton. It was the way I did it when I came over, got myself into this position, and it is the way I’ll do it now, going forward.

“If I keep playing well at Bolton, it will only help my chances. But the international manager is obviously going to want his players to be playing at the highest possible level, so it is a challenge for us now.”