Troy Parrott goals saved the previous Ireland manager’s job and he might have just done the same for John O’Shea.
Five of them now. Each one more important than the previous. He nabbed two against Andorra, high up in the Pyrenees, that finally gave Stephen Kenny’s side a victory in 2021. Then there was the late winner against Lithuania and a lovely finish against Scotland, both two years ago.
All vital, all a reminder of how important the 22-year-old can be to the Irish cause.
Truth be told, Parrott cannot stop scoring at the moment. He leaves Excelsior of Rotterdam with 10 in 25 Eredivisie appearances and a sensational seven in four relegation playoff matches that was not enough to save his loan club from the drop.
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A second hat-trick in a week was scored last Sunday, so he did not start against Hungary in Dublin. Instead, he finished in some style.
“Troy showed desire and application to get back into squad, get to the hotel, do his recovery,” said O’Shea, the permanent Ireland manager-in-waiting after Parrott’s 92nd-minute winner. “He is in great form, it was frustrating for him trying to save a team. They didn’t make it, but his goals were crucial from a selfish point of view, and so important for Troy’s career.
“Sammie Szmodics might have been offside [for the goal], he was too eager to get the all. Thankfully it went in.”
Back to Tottenham Hotspur goes Parrott, until another club comes for him, or Ange Postecoglou has his head turned by his international exploits.
“It’s difficult for me to say now what will happen,” said Parrott, more relieved than overjoyed.
Did he consider passing to Szmodics? “No, I seen the gap, and especially at the minute I’m full of confidence so I never thought I’d miss going through.
“I think it’s big for us. We played a lot of difficult teams recently so to get a win is nice and hopefully we can get another big performance against Portugal.”
Ireland and their interim management travel to Aveiro this week for warm-weather training before Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo offer one last outing in a very long season, next Tuesday.
“We are winning games again, which is hugely important at home if we want to qualify for tournaments,” said O’Shea, “especially at home, as that’s the foundation to qualifying, we found a way.”
Shane Duffy (calf) and Finn Azaz (quad) are the only injury concerns.
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