Stephen Kenny has hailed Evan Ferguson’s ‘meteoric rise’ and feels Ireland will be a more potent team because of him.
Everything the teenager touches turns to gold and Ferguson has become a mainstay in Brighton’s team in a matter of months.
He smashed three goals in four Premier League games before a knee injury at the end of January threatened to derail his season.
But that setback, following a horror tackle from Liverpool’s Fabinho with Kenny looking on from the stands, proved a fleeting one and not as serious as feared.
Indeed, Ferguson has come roaring back and sent Brighton into the FAI Cup quarter-finals with the winner away to Stoke City on Tuesday.
Now, Kenny has to decide whether to pitch him into the starting team to face World Cup runners-up France in the opening Euro 2024 qualifier on March 27.
And the fact that Ferguson has already tormented Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté - who could step into France’s starting team after Raphael Varane’s retirement - won’t hurt.
Ireland boss Kenny said: “Evan has played against him twice for Brighton, and he’s beaten them twice.
“Evan makes the game look simple. He takes the ball in, he protects it very well, he lays it off.
“He has good movement in the box and has a good ability to score goals with that movement and good finishing.
“He scores headed goals which nowadays forwards are not as prolific at scoring headed goals. He doesn’t complicate it.”
Kenny, who capped Ferguson in November against Norway and Malta, continued: “He’s not someone who dribbles at people at pace.
“But it’s early days for him and we’re still learning about him.
“To be fair to him, I think international football really enhanced some of our players at club level, I strongly believe that.
“But that’s not the case with Evan. He just came through the system at Brighton and at Bohs, quicker than we could have anticipated.
“There was talk of him going on loan in the last window, but he got in the team and took his chance, and full credit to him.”
Although crocked Callum Robinson won’t face France, Adam Idah is back from a knee injury having missed all of Ireland’s games in 2022.
Troy Parrott is fit and firing again, Michael Obafemi is starting to feature more for his new club Burnley and Chiedozie Ogbene scored for Rotherham during the week.
How much bother they will cause France remains to be seen, but Kenny is excited again by his attacking options.
“The characteristics of the forwards now are different to two years ago, a completely different profile of player,” he said.
“We’ve a lot of speed in the team now and that can be important at international level. We know all those players still have improving to do. Aaron Connolly is injured as well
“We’re still learning about Evan. He has burst onto the scene, a meteoric rise really.
“The profile of the forwards now is different to what we had and I think that makes us quite a potent team.”
Kenny has yet to speak directly to Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi about Ferguson’s progress.
But he’s in regular contact with technical director David Weir, who Kenny got to know at the Toulon tournament in France when he was Under-21 manager.
Weir was Brighton’s loan manager at the time and was over to track Aaron Connolly and Jayson Molumby’s progress at the time.
“Evan has really accelerated quicker than we could have expected, but we’re delighted with it,” said Kenny, who is facing a public clamour to start him against Les Blues.
Kenny had previously indicated that he would tinker with his team selection in the upcoming friendly against Latvia.
But with his career trajectory continuing on such an eye-catching curve, it will be interesting to see what role, if any, that Kenny has for Ferguson in that friendly.
Does he try to learn more about him by pitching him into friendly fire, or does he hold the Brighton beast back for the big one five days later?
Kenny said: “We just have to assess it in two weeks. A lot can happen in that time. He’s been a real positive, there’s no doubt about it after emerging as quickly as he has.
“It’s unusual to lead the line for one so young, a centre forward, at a Premier League club, particularly one in the top six or seven.
“It’s not a lot of games he’s played but you couldn’t have asked for more than he’s delivered so far.”
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