Confident teen Jack Byrne out to make a mark under Martin O’Neill

Now you see him, now you don’t — but you suspect it won’t be long before we see him again.

Invited to train with the senior squad yesterday and today, Jack Byrne might be a long shot for promotion to the Euros panel but the 19-year-old midfielder — who has recently impressed on loan from Manchester City at Dutch club SC Cambuur — is definitely one for the future.

Indeed, although he has been borrowed from the U21s, Martin O’Neill yesterday didn’t entirely rule out the possibility that he might see some action with the senior team by the time they complete their back to back friendlies, although the greater likelihood is that he’ll revert to being part of Noel King’s panel for their Uefa qualifiers.

One thing’s for sure, wherever and whenever he’s called upon, the Ballybough boy won’t lack for bubbling confidence.

“Although I’m not in the squad, I believe in my own ability and that I’m as good as anybody in the squad,” he says.

“I don’t think I’m ahead of schedule just because I’m 19. I don’t really think of it that way. I know a lot of these boys are a lot older than me but I think I can affect whatever I do on a football pitch. So it doesn’t matter what age I am.

“I’m just here this week to be around and enjoy the training sessions and all that but obviously you’d want to be stupid if you didn’t want to go to the European Championship for your country. So if I don’t make this one then I’ll be aiming to make the World Cup, and if I don’t make that, I’ll be aiming to make the next one.

“I’m playing in the top league in Holland. Although my team isn’t doing too well, I feel as if I’m doing quite well. If you don’t believe in yourself, who is going to believe in you?

“If I went out to Martin and said I didn’t think I was good enough to go to the Euros, he wouldn’t bring me. He might not bring me anyway if I tell him I’m going to be the best player at the Euros but, at the same time, you want to go out there and think that you’re definitely good enough to wear the green jersey for Ireland.

“I go out on the pitch to impress myself more than anything. I don’t want to go home from training annoyed because I’m after giving five passes away — simple passes. That’s my own personal standard and if people are looking in thinking, ‘Ah, he can do a job’, that’s fair enough.

“I always want to get better. I always want to improve, I never want to stand still. Even if I’ve played 150 times for Ireland I don’t want to stand still, I want to play 160 times. People are saying, ‘You’re in here too early’ but that’s because I’ve worked hard to get in here early. But it’s work and it’s taking risks. It is talent as well but it’s mostly work and taking risks and going out to Holland, experiencing something new, getting people talking.”

He’s certainly adept at doing that. Even when praising Roy Keane for being “very nice to me since I came in” and, in training, being “very helpful to me today,” the teenager somehow manages to make it sound like he’s passing judgement on one of Ireland’s greatest ever players.

“I’m a technical player and I affect the game in different ways than maybe Roy might have affected them by maybe getting on the ball,” he offers. “I’m not saying he couldn’t play football, I’m saying that’s just my key — maybe the last pass rather than the first pass.”

We’re certainly going to see and hear more of Jack Byrne.

“If he backs it up with ability, then great,” said Martin O’Neill with a smile yesterday. “If he turns out to be crap, that’s his problem. If he’s cocky, then great, well done.”

Another smile.

“He might have a bit of that knocked out of him by the senior boys.”