Jack Byrne backs Justin Ferizaj to learn fast

The Ireland Under-19 midfielder has excited with both his Ireland underage form and his cameos for the Rovers first team

Thu, 15 Sep, 2022 - 06:47

Cian Locke

Jack Byrne has backed young Shamrock Rovers teammate Justin Ferizaj to learn quickly and have a bright future in the game as long as he keeps his head down.

The Ireland Under-19 midfielder had excited with both his Ireland underage form and his cameos for the Rovers first team, before being trusted from the start in last week’s Europa Conference home draw with Djurgardens.

“He’s doing really well, he’s a great kid," Byrne said, ahead of Thursday night's visit to Gent.

"We try to help him as I play that position. He plays the deep role, he plays higher up as well. He can learn off (Graham) Burke, myself, Dylan Watts, players like us, international footballers.

“He’s a great kid. He comes in and works really hard. I’m sure he’ll have a bright future. He has the best manager and coaching staff in the country to help and guide him.

“If he needs any advice from the players or coaching staff it's going to be there for him.

“He’s got a great chance but he’s still a young kid and has a lot of learning to do.

“Aidomo Emakhu and Gideon Tetteh have done really well too - it’s good times for the club and good times for them if they keep their heads down.”

Byrne warns all of the Rovers' stars must cope better away from home if they are to progress further in this season's competition. Rovers have done wall at Tallaght during their European odyssey but struggled on the road.

“We’re a passing side and Europe suits the way we play. We have a tough game on Thursday," said Byrne

"We haven’t done well away from home against the better opposition in Europe this season. In Bulgaria and Hungary, we got beaten, and probably shot ourselves in the foot out there. We’ll be going out against Gent with that in mind.

“We’ve made mistakes and we need to rectify that, I'm sure we will.

“It’s important that we don’t get carried away when teams fill their stadium out. We can’t feel under pressure - we need to play our game.

“And we need to be aware that there are points up for grabs. It’s important to stay in games even when we don’t have total control.”