Evan Ferguson confirmed that he is fully fit for Ireland's upcoming double-header against Greece and Gibraltar.
The Brighton youngster missed out on Ireland’s last international fixtures due to injury, where Stephen Kenny’s side were beat 2-0 in Paris before a narrow defeat to the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium, which all but ended the team's Euro 2024 qualification hopes.
Ferguson previously led the line during the June qualifiers in the reverse games where Ireland were beaten in Athens before eventually getting the better of Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium.
The Meath teenager was on the scoresheet in that 3-0 victory against Gibraltar during the summer and will now be hopeful that he can contribute as Stephen Kenny’s side look to reverse that Greece defeat and secure three points at Lansdowne Road.
And now, it appears, Ferguson has put his injury worries behind him, having started for his club against Liverpool at the weekend, and he is now looking forward to get back in the green jersey starting with a home clash against the Greeks on Friday night.
"Yeah, all good," said Ferguson, when asked about his fitness ahead of the international fixtures.
"I feel like I'm alright and I'm ready to start so it should be all good. I'm sure the gaffer will pick the team he feels suits for the game," he added.
Ferguson dismissed the notion that his injuries were still being managed at club level, having come off after 60 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool, while he started on the bench in the Europa League clash with Marseille on Thursday.
"I think it was just the way the game went [on Sunday]," said Ferguson. "I think if you see most of the games, I don’t think many of the attacking players play 90 minutes. At the moment, I am all good."
Looking back to the last window, Ferguson [above] missed out on an opportunity to take on the World Cup finalists in Paris, as well as the chance to face the quality Dutch unit in Dublin three days later.
And while he admitted that it was a disappointment to be ruled out of the high-profile fixtures, he accepts that it was injury that forced his hand on that occasion.
"It was such a big window, and I was looking forward to playing the two games," said Ferguson.
"The injury held me back and I couldn’t do anything. I just went back to get into rehab and tried to get myself fit.
"I watched the two games, two good performances, and I'm looking forward to the two games we have now."
"I think as a striker you want to score in any game, no matter what has happened," added Ferguson, when asked was there extra motivation having missed the last couple of games.
"I’m just waiting for the game Friday and we’ll see what we can do."
Ferguson passed another milestone in that Europa clash in Marseille last week as he made his European bow, and while he has not pondered for too long the elevation of his career over the past 18 months, he acknowledges that he is naturally exposed to a certain amount of the media coverage.
"I’m not sure, I think it’s just trying not to pay too much attention to it," said Ferguson, when asked how he is coping with the hype that has been building around his future prospects.
"Obviously, if you go on your phone you are going to see stuff, the positive and the negative, you are going to see it everywhere so it’s about trying to not concentrate on it. We have games coming thick and fast. It's hard to concentrate on stuff when you have games coming every three or four days.
"You see stuff and it all is just media talk. You have to try to concentrate on what you can control."
Looking beyond the current campaign, the young striker is also looking forward to the prospect of playing for Ireland as a host country of Euro 2028.
The disappointment of the current Euro 2024 qualifying campaign could be put to one side on the day that it was announced that Ireland and Britain would host the 2028 tournament, with games set to take place in both Belfast and Dublin.
Should the Republic of Ireland qualify and make history by playing the first ever big tournament match on home soil, the team look set to get to play all three group games at the Aviva Stadium.
"I think it would be an unbelievable experience for anyone, any of the Irish boys in their home town, their home country, I think it would be an unbelievable feeling to host it," said Ferguson.
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