MY ICE FERG
O’shea wants to see a chilled out Evan report for Irish duty
JOHN O’SHEA has joked about putting Evan Ferguson in cold storage but really he thinks the Ireland ace just needs to chill.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed a stunning rise to prominence as a Premier League striker with Brighton.
And interim Ireland boss O’shea is desperate to have a fit and firing Ferguson available for this month’s friendlies with Belgium and Switzerland.
But the teenager is experiencing a tricky time and hasn’t scored since hitting the net against Nottingham Forest in
November. Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has vowed to do everything in his power to turn Ferguson into “the great player” he believes he can be.
But the Italian also pulled no punches, claiming Ferguson is playing below the levels he showed when smashing a hat-trick against Newcastle in September.
Niggling injuries have played their part but two weeks ago De Zerbi said: ”He can play better. The team needs Evan at 100 per cent of his physical and mental condition.”
On Thursday, O’shea (inset) will name Ferguson in his squad for the March 23 and March 26 games at Aviva Stadium. The
Meath man broke through under Stephen Kenny and has scored three senior Ireland goals in his 10 caps. But asked how he can help Ferguson overcome this tricky spell, O’shea said: “I’ll stick him in an ice bath for five days and we’ll defrost him for Belgium! The big thing with Evan is just to chill out. “Brighton have a couple more injuries again so there’ll be a bit more focus on him to be in the starting team. “Every top striker has it – they’ll have a little spell where they won’t score goals or they go out of form. The next thing they are after banging in four in four, five in five. That’ll be the case with Evan fairly soon. The quality that he has and the type of character and kid he is, he’ll be scoring goals again very soon.”
And O’shea – one of Kenny’s coaches with Ireland after stepping up from the Under-21s – has no doubt Ferguson can scale the heights.
“You’re not scoring goals like he has already done in the Premier League if you’re not a very good talent,” he added.
“I know how good he is as I worked with him in the Ireland U21s and in the seniors, he’s a top, top talent.
“But you’re learning at his age and you have to learn quickly otherwise there’ll be a player coming along to take your slot.”