Johnny Kenny: 'We spoke all week about bringing the nation together and I think we’ve done that'
Johnny Kenny has scored four goals for Celtic since Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney took over from Brendan Rodgers. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Johnny Kenny is determined to upset the odds on the continent for a second week running and help Celtic kick-start their Europa League campaign.
The striker made his Republic of Ireland debut in some style when he came off the bench with his side trailing in Hungary.
By the end of the game Troy Parrott had scored a hat-trick and taken the Republic into the World Cup play-offs, where they will face Czech Republic.
Kenny now travels to the Netherlands as Celtic prepare to take on Feyenoord looking for the big result they will need at some stage to get back on track for qualification for the knockout phase.
The Scottish champions sit in 27th place in the table, outside the qualifying places, on four points from four games.
When asked about their hopes of qualification, the former Sligo Rovers frontman said: “100%, we believe.
“I think the more motivation is when you’re written off and people think you’ve no chance.
“There are times you have the extra fire in your belly to go and perform and get results.”
Kenny and his international team-mates did that earlier this month as they shocked Portugal and then Hungary to claim six points from their final two qualifiers and keep themselves on track for North America.
“It was a surreal experience, obviously,” he said. “Growing up, you want to play for your country and obviously it was great to play in such a high magnitude game and obviously they were two massive results for the nation.
“We were written off before we went into it and obviously to score with the last kick of the ball was special.
“We spoke all week about bringing the nation together and I think we’ve done that and obviously it was the same with Scotland. The whole nation is together now and we hope to do that in March.
“We spoke so much about going to the US and past players who have been at World Cups have told us what it means to be in the World Cup with Ireland.”
Kenny’s international breakthrough followed a major step forward in his Celtic career under interim managers Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney.
The 22-year-old has scored four goals under the pair including one in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Rangers.
He said: “The last few goals now are gone. I just need to kick on and score more.
“Good or bad performance, you need to move on because we have games every three days for maybe three months now so you have no time to dwell on anything.
“Even here, probably the start of October, I was struggling to make squads and then one injury and you’re in. I’ve been playing ever since. Even with Ireland, we were written off.
“In football, no matter where you are, it can change in a flash. You just always need to be ready for when your chance comes. You need to put your two hands on it and take it.”
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