Troy Parrott shows Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah the path to success

Ireland's Troy Parrott celebrates scoring their second goal in the win over Andorra. Picture: INPHO/Sergio Ruiz

The spectre of Robbie Keane continues to linger.

Not just because the Republic of Ireland’s record goal scorer remains on the FAI payroll, despite leaving the senior men’s coaching ticket when Mick McCarthy departed in April of last year.

That thorny issue remains unresolved by chief executive Jonathan Hill, and even when it is finally dealt with, Keane’s achievements in the green jersey will make it impossible for him not to be referenced in relation to the fortunes of Ireland’s emerging attacking talent.

When you score 68 international goals you leave nothing but a lifetime of comparisons for those successors to the throne.

More than that clinical instinct in the box, Keane had the force of personality to match his ability and allow him to thrive in a ruthless industry.

There has been no escape from injury, Covid-19, and pressure for Troy Parrott (19), Adam Idah (20), or Aaron Connolly (21) over the last year.

But there does, finally, look to be a way out.

All have faced the same challenges head on and at the same time.

Their struggles, like their emergence as Ireland’s next generation, have been intertwined.

Players talk and gossip is rife in dressing rooms. When Parrott arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur to League One Ipswich Town, his stock was tumbling.

Spurs had terminated his stint early with Millwall in the Championship. An ankle injury on his debut ruled him out for the guts of four months and he made just seven starts. One assuring voice at his parent club is the legendary Pat Jennings.

The goalkeeping consultant has continually stressed the importance of dedication and determination to the Dubliner, citing Harry Kane’s work ethic as just as important as his talent.

That shone through from the first day at Ipswich. “A great lad, he really is,” Stephen Ward, his former team-mate at Portman Road, insists.

“He is still learning the game and he will get there. Maybe he just needs that little bit longer to get there than what he has probably been used to hearing about himself.

And he needs to give himself that time as well. What I saw from him everyday was a kid who listened to the older players, worked tremendously hard and wanted to score every single time he was on the pitch.

Parrott turned 19 three days after he signed for Ipswich in February and before that month was out, the manager who brought him to the club, Paul Lambert, was sacked.

His replacement, former Sligo Rovers boss Paul Cooke, didn’t quite take to him as he pushed for a play-off spot.

“Obviously he would want to play but he kept working really hard and didn’t let it affect his training. I was delighted to see him get his goals for Ireland,” Ward continues.

“You could see by his reaction, there was a bit of relief for him. People have been speaking about him coming through and that interview he gave talking about it being a tough year, I think he has probably been harder on himself than he needs to be because there are players his age, and older, nowhere near Ireland squads or the level he’s at.”

That is a sentiment which Brighton boss Graham Potter was at pains to point out about Connolly only this April.

“I think he’s very self-critical. Sometimes a bit too much,” he explained. “In this world where it is often very negative you can spiral into a place that isn’t necessarily that good for you.”

Connolly suffered back spasms and damaged ribs prior to the World Cup qualifier away to Serbia in March, and then suffered a foot injury which meant he managed 68 minutes of Premier League football before the end of the season.

That issue forced him to withdraw from this camp with Ireland, and the summer break might just do him the world of good.

A tight support network is crucial, something Idah has benefitted from after a torrid time at Norwich City.

A Championship season which began with him scoring the winning goal away to Huddersfield Town on the opening day and featuring regularly until a red card against Wycombe in October, began to unravel after he suffered a knee and ankle injury in a challenge on Nations League duty against Wales last November.

When he returned, a couple of months afterwards he tested positive for Covid-19 on his first week back training, and then a hernia developed to hamper him even further as Norwich clinched promotion to the Premier League.

“He couldn’t catch a break at all,” Jaze Kabia, his best friend, and a winger with Livingston in Scotland, rues.

“I’d like to think I was one of the people who was there to help him but he has a lot of people around him keeping him going in the right direction.

“His mum (Fiona) and nan (Kathleen) are so positive and encouraging. He’s from a great family and has got a good head on his shoulders to deal with all this.”

That is going to be crucial for all three, and if they can come through their respective challenges with their spirits intact, it might just be a bond that brings them even closer together.