Derrick Williams put in an assured performance on his Republic of Ireland debut against France.

Williams played 82 minutes of the 2-0 defeat in what was his first senior cap.

He had previously been an unused substitute in the March friendly defeat to Turkey and featured for an Ireland XI earlier this month as part of Scott Brown’s testimonial against Celtic.

But having been capped at youth level, the 24-year-old received his first senior call-up for the game in the Stade de France.

Ireland were forced in to plenty of defending throughout, with the hosts enjoying almost 80 per cent of possession, but Williams stuck to his task well on the left side of a back four.

France had been knocking on the door before taking the lead just before half-time when Chelsea striker Oliver Giroud, starting in a front three alongside Kylian Mbappe and Nabil Fekir, forced the ball in at the second attempt following a right-wing corner.

They doubled their advantage 90 seconds before the break when Fekir’s shot proved too hot to handle for Doyle who couldn’t keep the ball out despite getting a strong hand to the effort from the edge of the area.

Williams was replaced by Matt Doherty in the closing stages.

Fellow Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan was an unused substitute in the game and, like Williams, will be hoping to feature when Martin O’Neill’s side return to action against USA on Saturday, June 2 in Dublin.