‘Sacrificed himself’ – Manager heaps praise on Spurs starlet for attitude this season

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has praised the work ethic and the attitude that Troy Parrott has shown at MK Dons this season.

Parrott did not have the best of starts to his loan spell at the Dons but the striker has been in excellent form since the turn of the year, becoming the League One side’s best creator in the number ten role.

There are still some concerns over the 20-year-old’s lack of goals this season but he silenced his critics with a brace to help Liam Manning’s side beat Cheltenham Town 3-1 earlier this month.

Parrott took home MK Dons’ player of the month award for February and the striker will be hoping to transfer his club form to the national set-up, with Ireland set to play friendlies against Belgium and Lithuania.

Kenny has backed the Tottenham man to shine for his country, admitting that he has been impressed with what he has seen from the youngster in League One this season.

He told BBC Sport about Parrott: “Troy has had to sacrifice himself a little bit for the team at MK Dons.

“He’s had to play in a variety of positions. He had a little period where he lost his place – he had Covid and he got sent off after he came back from Covid in a cup game.

“You are thinking, ‘right, he’s got a job to do to make sure he stays in the international squad because this is a little period for him, a little test for him’.

“But he knuckled down and he had about six consecutive matches where he played the full 90 minutes.

“Even though the manager was making three substitutions in the attacking areas, he was the one who was never taken off.

“He has not probably scored the amount of goals he’d like to have scored, but he has sacrificed himself.

“He got two last week against Cheltenham, but he has certainly sacrificed himself for the team and has put in tremendous work and has been a great team-mate to the players.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Based on Kenny’s words, one would expect Parrott to start against Belgium on Saturday. It will certainly be a good test for the youngster to go up against the experienced Red Devils backline and it will do his confidence a world of good should he find the back of the net.

Related Topics