John O'Shea offers words of advice to Evan Ferguson as striker aims to get back firing vs Senegal
JOHN O'SHEA insists Evan Ferguson's club season is not a fair reflection of the player.
And the Ireland assistant has tipped the striker, 20, to have a successful international window.
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Ferguson's career has stalled over the past 18 months
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O'Shea backed him to get back thriving before too long
Ireland are in camp this week ahead of
Ferguson joined up with the squad after a patchy season where he managed more minutes and goals at international level than in the Premier League.
But O'Shea said: 'The coaches spoke about it in terms of how he has trained the last couple of days.
"He showed the type of player we know he is and hopefully he'll get the chance to show that in the next couple of games as well.
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'It's just a case that you can't sit and sulk about it.'
Last season, the Bettystown native enjoyed 424 minutes on the pitch for the international team compared to 388 in the Premier League.
And he hit the net twice for the Boys in Green during the 2024-25 campaign compared to a solitary strike in the English top tier, which he scored for Brighton last October against Wolves.
His fortunes in front of goal failed to improve after joining West Ham on loan in February and he is now back at the Seagulls.
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But O'Shea has no doubt that Ferguson can put last season's disappointments behind him.
The former Manchester United defender added: 'The Premier League is that elite level that at the minute you see all the teams already trying to get players in.
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'You have to be at it and on it every day possible, doing everything you can.
'That's what you have to do to get that place in the team, stay in the team.
'If you're doing that, if you're applying yourself as best you can and the manager's not picking you for some reason, then you can look yourself in the mirror and say I've done everything I can.
'But if you're doing that and it is happening for you, you know why.
'And the way Evan's been training this week, hopefully there'll be lots of good things to come.'
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