Sammon angling for Ireland’s call

THE ramifications of Ireland’s qualification for Euro 2012 were felt all the way over in Wigan, with James McCarthy poised to become the Latics’ sole representative at the finals.

But if Wigan boss Roberto Martinez had his way, there would be two representatives from the DW making the trip to Poland and Ukraine.

Just over three years ago, Conor Sammon was plying his trade with Derry City in the Eircom League.

Now the Dubliner is being tipped by his club boss to gatecrash Giovanni Trapattoni’s 23-man squad for the European Championships.

Sammon’s had to bide his time at Wigan since his £600,000 (€700,000) arrival from Kilmarnock last January, only really getting his big chance in recent weeks.

But the likeable Dubliner has already shown enough to convince Martinez he is worth taking a punt on.

Enough for him to be labelled “the most professional player I’ve ever seen” by the well-travelled Spaniard.

“Conor’s had a huge influence during the last few matches, and it’s a reward for never stopped working at his game since he’s been here,” revealed Martinez.

“For me, he is the most professional footballer I have ever seen in terms of the way he looks after himself, the way he listens and the way he takes on new concepts.

“His work ethic is indescribable, and it’s been a joy to see the massive influence over the past few weeks.

“In terms of his attitude on and off the field, he is a ‘10’ — and that gives you a great start in football.”

It was a similar story at Killie, whose boss Mixu Paatelainen admitted Sammon was “a pleasure to work with... and the first name on my team sheet every week”.

There is nothing fancy about Sammon’s style of play — dynamic and direct — but he is effective.

And perhaps just what Trapattoni is looking for as he finalises his squad for next summer.

“Conor is strong, powerful, good in the air — a real throwback to the classic old-style British centre-forward,” gushed Martinez.

“But that is mixed with the concepts of modern-day football, which makes him the complete player.

“Sometimes you get players who are great target men, but they have no pace or can’t turn with the ball.

“Conor can do that the lot and he’s still young, he’s still growing and he’s still developing.

“He can achieve anything he wants to achieve in the game. By that I mean stepping up to the international stage because you don’t find too many players of his type in world football.”

An impressive 18 goals in just 27 games in Scotland led to Sammon being poached by Wigan midway through last term.

And although he took time to bed in, he marked his arrival in the penultimate game of last season by helping Wigan keep their Premier League dream alive. Trailing 2-0 to West Ham at the interval in a game they had to win, Martinez threw on Sammon — ironically for McCarthy — and watched the striker change the game and score a crucial goal in the 3-2 triumph.

More recently, he’s also been vital in stopping Wigan being cast adrift in the Premier League.

“It’s not my decision to make, because Ireland have got a very strong group of players at the moment,” remarked Martinez, “But any squad of players would be boosted by the presence of a Conor Sammon on the scene.

“He brings something completely different to the table, and I think it’s only a matter of time before he does make that step up to help Ireland in a major tournament. Whether that’s this one or the next, who knows?”