Stephen Kenny did not confirm that Evan Ferguson would start against Greece in Friday night’s Euro 2024 qualifier, however, he certainly suggested that the young Brighton striker was top of the list when it came to selecting a striker to lead the line in Athens.
Ferguson has enjoyed a remarkable season at club level, most notably in the second half of the Premier League campaign, and it coincided with his first start for his country in the March friendly international against Latvia.
First start soon led to first goal as Ferguson was on hand to help home the second of the night in Ireland’s 3-2 victory at the Aviva Stadium, and it then resulted in his first competitive start in the opening qualifier against France.
Ferguson’s form for both club and country, but particularly starring for a high-flying Brighton outfit in the top tier of English football, has generated more than a plethora of column inches in relation to the potential of the player coupled with the fact that he has attracted the interest of some of the biggest clubs in European football.
And now in the build-up to Ireland latest Euro 2024 qualifier, the conversation around the attacking options is not about whether Ferguson will start, but rather who will partner him up front.
Naturally, the young striker was the topic of conversation of the pre-match press conference at the OPAP Arena, where the manager was asked is he was getting swept up in Ferguson mania.
"No, not at all," said Kenny. "I think, at the moment, on recent form, he’s in the team on merit. He’s been our best forward for sure.
"To score a goal in his first game can only give him confidence. I don’t feel any pressure, no. He’s a brilliant addition for us. I’m delighted to have him in the team.
"Evan has emerged quicker than we could have anticipated. He’s done brilliant for Brighton in the Premier League.
"He’s trained really well this week. Such a young player, you wouldn’t want to put too much on his shoulders, because we’ve got five good young forwards in the squad.
"He has got terrific ability. We’d love to see that emerge over the next week."
So while the manager is happy to embrace the hype around the emerging striker, he was quick to dismiss the idea of sentiment playing a part in his selection process.
Callum O’Dowda is expected to start the game in Athens in the left wing-back position, however, Kenny was quick to counter that James McClean remains a very viable option to contribute in that role.
McClean is approaching 100 caps in the Ireland jersey, and while the manager expects it to be a case of when, not if he reaches that remarkable milestone, he said that it will earned not awarded.
"There’s good competition at left wing-back," said Kenny. "James McClean has had such longevity, he’s probably the fittest player in the squad, he got player of the year at his club this season.
"Callum O’Dowda has also performed well in recent games, he obviously scored against Latvia, hit the post after coming on against Malta, and played well against Norway overall. Injury has interrupted his international career.
"He’s adapted to being a left wing-back after traditionally being a winger at his club. He can bring the qualities of the winger in that position, He he’s a natural dribbler, he can go inside or outside so aligned to his speed he can give you different qualities.
"It's one thing that... you learn as a manager, you can't allow sentiment to enter your decision making process when you're selecting the team, that doesn't come into it," added Kenny.
"But anything is possible. James, there’s an inevitability he will get 100 caps, it's only a matter of when. He's been an incredible servant to Ireland. You see Modric playing at 37 last night.
"You wouldn’t put that out of the realms of James, playing to that age. He’s obsessed with his levels of fitness. He could play for many years still, for several years still."
Looking ahead to the game, Kenny has taken a lot of positives from his side’s performance in their group opener with France, yet he acknowledges that the Greece game is a completely different proposition.
"This is a different game entirely," said Kenny.
"Greece are on a good run of form, they are a possession-based team as well, they get a high percentage of possession in a lot of their games, they like to dominate possession, and they're expansive.
"We’ve shown the capacity to be like that as well in a lot of games, that's one of our strengths as well.
"It’s an intriguing game really. Is the approach different? Yes it is. So we’ll have to wait and see how that goes on Friday."
Watch Greece v Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday night from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live radio commentary with Game On on 2fm
