Troy Parrott is hoping better fortunes are just around the corner for the Republic of Ireland after firing them to a dramatic win over Euro 2024 finalists Hungary.
The 22-year-old Tottenham striker came off the bench to snatch a 2-1 victory in the second minute of stoppage time at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday evening, Ireland’s first success of note since they beat Scotland 3-0 in June 2022.
It has been a bleak couple of years for the Republic, whose only wins since that day have come against Armenia, Malta, Latvia and Gibraltar, but Parrott is confident of an upturn as they prepare for next Tuesday’s friendly in Portugal ahead of the new Nations League campaign.
He said: “I hope so. I feel like we’ve got a really good team and some really good players as well.
“Obviously results have been difficult to come by for us, but if you really look at the games we have played, it’s very rare that we lose 2-0, 3-0, 4-0.
“We’re always in games, results just haven’t swung our way. Hopefully now we can push on and start getting some wins.”
That lack of wins – just six in 29 competitive games – ultimately cost manager Stephen Kenny his job in November last year, and to the consternation of Ireland fans, the search for his successor is ongoing seven months later.
John O’Shea took charge of the March friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland and went some of the way towards persuading those responsible for recruitment that he might be a candidate with perhaps more prominent names having either distanced themselves or been ruled out, a scenario for which there is mounting popular support.
Ireland perhaps turned in their least convincing performance of 118-cap defender O’Shea’s interim reign against the Hungarians, but demonstrated an organisation and resilience which had at times eluded them under Kenny, surviving a fightback after Adam Lang had cancelled out Adam Idah’s opener before snatching the win at the death.
Asked if the former Manchester United and Ireland defender, who served as one of Kenny’s assistants, could be suited to the job on a permanent basis, Parrott replied: “Yes, I think so, yes. I like working with him, so we’ll see what happens.
“I missed the last camp, so this is my first time being in with him. Even when he was in with the last manager, I loved working with him. To see him here is nice.”
Parrott’s late intervention, breaking from his own half to squeeze the ball past substitute keeper Denes Dibusz, capped a busy few days for him after he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory for loan club Excelsior in the Eredivisie relegation play-off final second leg, but could not prevent them from slipping out of the top flight.
He will return to Tottenham having enjoyed his season in the Netherlands, but unsure as to where his future lies as he enters into the final year of his contract.
Asked if he has spoken to manager Ange Postecoglou yet, he said: “No, not yet. I’m sure I will have those conversations after my break. I just want to have a holiday and go from there.”
