Callum Robinson insists he wasn’t fazed by the world media spotlight on him last October.
The Republic of Ireland striker found himself at the centre of a Covid-19 storm after revealing he refused a vaccine.
And that’s despite contracting Coronavirus twice and missing seven Irish internationals as a result of Covid-related issues.
But Robinson did his talking on the pitch by scoring twice in Ireland’s qualifying win in Azerbaijan before smashing a hat-trick in a friendly win over Qatar days later.
The West Brom forward has not spoken on the issue until now.
He linked up with the Ireland squad over the weekend ahead of this Saturday’s opening Nations League game in Armenia.
But asked how he handled the build-up to that game in Azerbaijan, Robinson said today: ““It was different. Definitely different.
“But to be fair, I didn’t think it was that big a thing and then it blew up. But I just wanted to get on the pitch really and do my thing and let my football do the talking.
“I wanted to let people see what I could do on the pitch, and forget what was happening off the pitch.
“It topped it off when I got the two goals on the Saturday and then the three on the Tuesday. That was the best part of it.”
Robinson - who refused to say if he has been vaccinated since - continued: “First of all, we are all human. It wasn’t even a conversation of whether I was right for Saturday.
“It was just, ‘How are you, are you okay, we are here for you if you need anything’.
“From the staff to the players, they all just wanted to make sure I was okay, not for the game, just to make sure my head was alright.
“And honestly, my head was fine. Perfectly fine. This comes with football.
“I just wanted to produce for the boys and for the staff over those two games, because they were there for me if I actually needed them.
“But I did feel like I was fine and I just went to crack on and do my thing on the pitch. I’m happy that did happen in those two games.”
Robinson celebrated his goals in those two games by sticking his fingers in his ears, as if to block out the noise.
Asked who he was sending the message to, Robinson just said: “No one in particular, but maybe there was something in that definitely.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Kenny has no injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game in Yerevan after all 27 players trained at Abbotstown today.
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