John O'Shea: Evan Ferguson needs to relax and the goals will come

Evan Ferguson, right, with Festy Ebosele and Jamie McGrath, left, during an Ireland training session. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

John O’Shea reckons Evan Ferguson just needs to relax for his goalscoring mojo to be rediscovered.

The striker is only 19 but was linked with £100m moves to Arsenal and Manchester United after becoming the third youngest hat-trick scorer in Premier League history and equalling Wayne Rooney’s record for most goals by a teenager in a calendar year.

But the Brighton and Hove Albion striker has been on a drought since last scoring in November against Nottingham Forest.

Nobody is unreasonable enough to be worried, particularly as injuries and rotation have been factors but there was reaction when his club boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “He can play better. The team needs Evan but (when) Evan at 100% of his physical and mental condition.” Ferguson will likely lead the line for Ireland in today’s friendly against Belgium at Lansdowne Road (5pm) in the first of two matches under the caretaker control of O’Shea.

He worked with the youngster at U21 level and again last year as part of Stephen Kenny’s backroom team.

There’s no worries on his behalf about Ferguson, only advice to remove any anxiety from his game and plead for artillery from teammates.

Evan Ferguson of Ireland is consoled by assistant manager John O'Shea after the UEFA European U21 Championship play-off second leg match against Israel. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

“The key for me on Evan is getting supply to him and getting him to relax and enjoy his football,” said the 42-year-old former Manchester United defender.

“If selected, the key thing is getting him in the box where he’s most dangerous.

“He’s got a bit of everything. Evan is similar to Adam Idah in what he can do by bringing others into the game, taking on defenders one-v-one and hitting the back of the net. He’s got a lot in the locker.

“If you get him closer to goal, in between the posts in the box, shall we say, he’s going to be a big danger to Belgium.” 

 O’Shea added about the supposed goal famine: 

“All good strikers, whether you’re young or old, you’ll have that spell in your career of a couple of months without a goal and it’s just getting back to the little extra finishing sessions, little reminders of what you’re good at and reminders of where to be to hurt teams.

“I think that’s the key thing for me. A player, when he’s in form, he’ll be doing those things as well to keep that consistency, and get your level of performance up to where it should be.”