Troy story

KENNY EXCITED OVER SPURS ACE

STEPHEN KENNY claims it doesn’t take a genius to see that Troy Parrott is ready to reach the next level with Ireland.

But despite naming him in his first competitive U21 squad, Kenny could be without the young Tottenham ace for next week’s opening

Euro qualifier.

Parrott has been a revelation for Ireland at underage level and is rewarded with this first call for the Luxembourg game in Tallaght on Sunday week.

But the striker, 17, has been laid low with a toe injury since late last month and is in a race against time.

Kenny said: “He’s had a procedure and the Tottenham medical team are in contact with ours. He’s somewhat doubtful at this stage.

“We’re going to see how it goes over the week and communicate with Tottenham and see how that goes.

“He’s had it for some time and they found a window for him to have the procedure and decided to utilise it.”

Held in high regard by Mauricio Pochettino, Parrot has trained regularly with Tottenham’s first-team this season and excelled in their U23 side.

“He’s ready for it based on what I’ve seen,” said ex-dundalk boss Kenny (inset). “I believe in all the players we’ve selected – young players we’ve accelerated. Lee O’connor, Conor Coventry, Adam Idah, Troy Parrott – I’ve no doubt they’re ready.

“We’ve promoted Gavin Bazuna and he’s younger again, he’s still eligible for the under-17s this year. We’ve been impressed with them. But you don’t have to be the smartest man in the room to see that Troy’s well capable of stepping up. He’s got a lot of talent.” FOUR

of the five League of Ireland Premier games next weekend have been postponed because of international call-ups. Finn Harps’ clash with leaders Shamrock Rovers is the only top flight game that will go ahead.