Evan Ferguson ready for Ireland's revenge mission

That the Brighton youngster has settled into the Premier League life probably owes in some part to the experiences and advice of his dad Barry

Mon, 06 Jun, 2022 - 08:00

Brendan O'Brien

Evan Ferguson was barely 15 years old when his Republic of Ireland U17 side accounted for Israel at Turner’s Cross and booked its place in the Elite Round of the European Championships.

Then came Covid.

The pandemic played havoc with a whole generation of young footballers scrambling up the game’s pyramid, but Ferguson’s progress doesn’t seem to have been slowed by global events.

It’s almost 18 months since he left Bohemians for Brighton & Hove Albion where he has played four times for Graham Potter’s senior side and he is part of an Ireland U21 squad that will look to take another giant stride towards a first major finals at the grade this evening.

“I feel like it’s been a good season for me, coming on and making your Premier League debut,” he explained before this Euro 2023 qualifier, “but I feel like next season, I just want to go and do more and more and see where it takes me.”

That he has settled into the Premier League life probably owes in some part to the experiences and advice of his dad Barry who moved over to Coventry City as a teenager before building a career back home in the League of Ireland.

It was his dad who told him what to expect in terms of attention when young Evan made his Bohs debut against Chelsea at the age of just 14. Alan Reynolds, assistant manager with the Ireland 21s, describes a kid with a good head on his shoulders.

“It’s a big difference moving over to playing in front of 30 or 40 thousand every week so that’s probably the biggest change, and the professionalism and stuff,” said Ferguson. “But it’s good, you’re training with the senior players, (Shane) Duffy and all that. They’re giving up tips and helping you. It’s definitely better over there.”

Ferguson’s input with the 21s has, for the most part, been restricted to duties off the bench. Jim Crawford has used him as a reserve four times, his only start coming away to today’s opponents when Ireland were shocked to lose 2-1.

Claim revenge here and the Republic will move from third to first in Group F, if only for the few hours until Italy account for Luxembourg away, but a win would still leave them above Sweden with Ireland and the Scandinavians still to face the Azzurri in their last games.

Strip it all back and three more points in Tallaght would leave them highly likely to claim second spot and a playoff place with it while still leaving them in the hunt for the summit and the one automatic place in next year’s tournament.

The message is simple.

“Go and win,” said Reynolds. “I know there’s another game on Thursday between Sweden and Italy. We do our business (today) we’ve something to play for either way come the last game in Italy. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”

Centre-back Oisin McEntee is a doubt after injuring a shoulder in the 3-0 defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina last Friday while Reynolds and Crawford have suggested other changes are likely given the proximity of the fixtures and general lack of game time in recent weeks.

Montenegro are no dopes. Centre-back Mark McGuinness said the Eastern Europeans “bullied” them last time out. Ireland aside, they have taken points off the Swedes and Italians while losing just 1-0 to the latter away from home.

Ireland were patchy against the Bosnians three days ago before pulling away. Better will likely be required here to stay on course.