YOU CONN SEE WHAT HE OFFERS

‘NIGHTMARE’ Aaron Connolly is already winning over the Ireland players in training after his elevation from the Under-21 ranks.

The Galway man, 19, lit up the Premier League last weekend with two cracking goals in Brighton’s win over Tottenham.

And it led to Mick Mccarthy reaching for the phone to inform him that he would have Georgia on his mind this week, and not the Italian U21s in Tallaght tomorrow. Connolly (above) trained with the seniors for the second day running yesterday and left a good impression. Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane, 28, said: “We played against Brighton about three weeks ago and he played upfront for about 60 minutes.

“He caused our two centre-halves a lot of problems, running the channels and it’s just his pace and everything about his game, really.

“That was my first time playing against him and seeing a lot of him, the first impressions were very good.

“So it was no surprise really that he scored a couple of goals in the Premier League and he’s fully deserving of his place in this squad, that’s for sure.”

Mccarthy has not ruled out handing Connolly a debut in Tbilisi on Saturday and Hourihane added: “He’ll bring his own strengths.

“He’s very quick and runs in behind. He causes teams problems and is probably a nightmare for defenders.

“We’ll see how he is this week in training and I’m sure that he will be very excited and keen to make an impression.

“Aaron’s gone about his business and has been very quiet.

“But he has looked nice

and bright.”