MICHAEL: I’M GLAD BOSS HAS MY BACK

THE final quarter of Tuesday’s win over Armenia stoked the embers of the debate over whether Stephen Kenny is the man to lead Ireland back to a major tournament finals.

Crucially, the players remain with him and behind him.

Michael Obafemi, for one, was pleased that Kenny recently fought his corner over his absence at club level.

Obafemi’s proposed move from Swansea to Burnley collapsed before the transfer deadline. He then found himself out of Russell Martin’s plans, reportedly for how he reacted to the move not happening.

Quizzed about Obafemi’s situation ahead of the international window, Kenny said: “I’ve spoken to Michael and like everything else, there are two or three sides to every story.

“Certainly Michael wants to play football, he wants to play for Swansea.”

In response, Martin said he was disappointed with Kenny’s comments, insisting there weren’t three sides to this particular story — that Obafemi needed to rebuild trust with everyone involved with the club.

Nevertheless the 22-year-old was pleased with Kenny’s intervention and repaid him with a superb 52nd-minute goal against Armenia.

“Yeah, I don’t really need to get into too much detail but I’m thankful that he had my back,” said Obafemi.

“I’m here and I’ve done well and that’s the main thing.

“I’m glad that he said what he said but, ultimately, it’s in the past now and we’ve got to move on forward.”

Recalled off the bench in the 3-0 victory over Hull before joining the Ireland squad, Obafemi received a warm welcome from some fans but was booed by others.

“Em, interesting,” he said, when asked for his reaction to that mixed reception.

“Obviously I’m a Swansea player and happy there, but the main thing is to just get back playing.

“And that’s it, really.” A comfortable 70 opening minutes on Tuesday then saw the visitors score twice in less than 90 seconds, before Robbie Brady’s winner from the spot in injury time.

“Eventful,” was Obafemi’s take on events.

“I felt like we had a good first 60 minutes, then we got a bit complacent, sloppy, and that’s when they got their two goals.

Points

“Thanks to Robbie we got the three points.

“We’re disappointed with the two goals but ultimately we maintained our position in League B, so we look forward to the (Euro 2024) draw and we go from there.”

That aside, the highlight of the night was Obafemi’s brilliant second goal, struck from close to the spot where he smashed home the third goal against the Scots in June.

Did that one flash through his mind before he scored on Tuesday?

“Nah, not really,” Obafemi said. “Just instinct.

“As a striker, touch out of your feet and hit it. And yeah, it went in, that’s the main thing. “Obviously I haven’t been playing recently. So it’s been fantastic to come

here and get the minutes in and to get a goal to top it off.

“Stephen has put his trust in me and played me back to back and I’m just thankful that I could reward him with a goal.

“I just play how I play and glad that I could get the goal and be back filled with confidence.”

If Obafemi can win over his club boss and get playing regularly for Swansea, then his place in Ireland’s front line looks assured.

“We are all fighting for places,” he added.

“We’ve got top strikers. Callum (Robinson), Scott (Hogan), Troy (Parrott), Chieo (Ogbene), so no-one has really got their spot.”