Stephen Kenny refuses to lament Evan Ferguson’s injury.
Stephen Kenny, manager of the Republic of Ireland, is refusing to lament his bad luck as his team prepares to face the might of France without its emerging star striker.
Irish fans were licking their lips in anticipation when 18-year-old Evan Ferguson scored a Premier League hat-trick for Brighton against Newcastle on Saturday evening, just days before facing the World Cup runners-up at the Parc des Princes.
However, a knee injury has forced his withdrawal from the squad for the game and the following home match against Netherlands on Sunday, much to Kenny’s dismay. Kenny’s reign has been marred by misfortune since losing frontmen Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly to what turned out to be false positives.
When asked if he was due for a lucky break, the manager replied, “No, I don’t really look at it that way.” I consider myself quite fortunate to be in charge of Ireland.
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“The attacking players who are missing, five of them – Michael Obafemi, Troy Parrott, Mikey Johnston, Callum Robinson, and Evan Ferguson, of course – the five players are missing, but because we’ve given 18 players their debut in that period over the last two years, it’s increased the level of squad depth and means we still have a strong team.”
“I’m very happy with the team that we have tomorrow night, and I’m very happy with the options that we have.”
“I understand that many people don’t give us much of a chance.
That is something we are aware of. But we’re going to give ourselves every chance to prepare well and perform at the level required to put in a really solid performance tomorrow night.
The odds are stacked against Ireland as they try to reignite their Group B campaign, which has generated just three points from as many games, including a 1-0 home defeat by France in Dublin.
FIFA has put Didier Deschamps’ side second, while the Republic has dropped to 53rd, and they realistically need to win at least one of the two games this week to keep their campaign alive.
