On-loan Celtic striker Johnny Kenny is certainly making the most of his spell at Shamrock Rovers under Stephen Bradley.
Kenny scored once again last night as the other Hoops defeated Dundalk 1-0 to keep their slim chances of claiming the League of Ireland title alive, and has now registered nine goals in 19 appearances since returning to his homeland.
Now into his second loan stint at Tallaght Stadium, the 21-year-old is improving weekly and will hope to repeat his exploits against Vikingur Reykjavik in the first qualifying round of the Champions League next Tuesday.
Previously, Shamrock Rovers manager Bradley had hinted that he would be ‘chaining him to the gates’ to stop Kenny from being recalled by Celtic any time soon, and he has lauded the free-scoring forward once again following his well-taken strike last night.
Stephen Bradley on Johnny Kenny’s growing ‘maturity’
Speaking after Kenny’s goal against Dundalk yesterday, he stated [Irish Independent]: “Johnny scored a good goal but possibly could have had more, which he’s disappointed with.
“I know Johnny feels he should have 16 or 17 goals (this season). We looked at his xG last year, and he was miles ahead of everyone in the league, so we knew it was coming.
“It was just a matter of him keeping on working on his game. His all round game has improved so much, but what I love about him is that he’s not afraid to miss. You need to have that bravery and character as a centre forward, that balls to say ‘I missed but we’ll go again’. Johnny has that.
“I think he has shown a maturity. He has come back a different player this year. For a centre-forward who scores goals, he’s only young. You look around the league and around Europe; goal scorers are hard to come by, and Johnny scores.”
Kenny has found the ideal platform to showcase his talent and is developing at an encouraging rate, which is refreshing to see at this stage in his career.
Celtic will be keeping tabs on his progress from afar, and it will be intriguing to see if he can eventually break into the first-team picture once the Irish campaign draws to a close.
Either way, it shows the value regular minutes can have for a youngster. The loan system can be successful in the right circumstances, with this instance being one of them.
