Divock Origi has called for a response from his Belgium teammates when they face Republic of Ireland on Saturday following their opening Euro 2016 defeat to Italy.

The Liverpool striker appeared as a second-half substitute as his country lost 2-0 to the Italians on Monday night in Lyon.

An honest Origi admitted Belgium were second best on the night and stressed improvement is imperative against Martin O’Neill’s charges.

“I think we just under-performed,” said Origi.

“In football that can happen but in a tournament you can’t have too many bad days because then you can’t go through. Now we have to be ready for the next game.”

Liverpool’s No.27 is fully aware of the battling qualities and fighting spirit the Irish have in abundance, and with a final group game against Sweden to come, the striker insists a big effort is needed from every single Belgium player if they are to progress to the knockout stage.

He added: “We know it will be tough because we have a lot of respect for Ireland and we’ll have to look at how we play the game tactically.

“It’s going to be an important game for us. We have to be ready. After the loss against Italy we’re obviously disappointed but we know that Ireland are a good team and we’ll have to be at 100 per cent to beat them, that’s for sure.”