Evan Ferguson is 10/1 to break Robbie Keane's Republic of Ireland goalscoring record after netting on his international debut.
The 18-year-old scored Ireland's second goal in their 3-2 victory over Latvia at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night, becoming Ireland's youngest goalscorer since Keane, and is being backed to start against France in Monday's Euro 2024 qualifier.
However, the Brighton & Hove Albion striker has a quite a bit to go to better Keane's record, with the ex-Spurs man having scored 68 goals in 146 appearances for the Boys in Green.
READ MORE: Feels like hopes pinned on 18-year-old Evan Ferguson after rollercoaster Latvia win
Rachael Kane, a spokesperson for Paddy Power, said: "Evan Ferguson couldn't have dreamt of a better debut when scoring after just 17 minutes against Latvia, but he has a long way to go to catch Robbie Keane.
"We make it 10/1 that the 18-year-old will go on to better the 68 goals scored by the Tallaght native in an Ireland jersey before hanging up his boots."
Ferguson is hoping for more of the same against World Cup runners-up France after opening his Ireland goalscoring account in his first senior start for his country.
He said: “I don’t think there is much better feeling than scoring at home with family and friends watching, there is no other way to describe it.
“But now it’s just try and go on and think about the France game, and see if I can get another one.”
The Bettystown native has been in fine form for his club recently, scoring six goals in 13 games for Brighton, two of them in last Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Grimsby.
But Ireland boss Stephen Kenny was refusing to get carried away with Ferguson's debut Ireland goal, as well as a number of other good performances from young players, after Wednesday's win.
He commented: “It’s never straightforward with players. Injuries can take their toll with young players. The demands are high in the leagues they are in and sometimes that happens.
“What we have now is a high number of players who have come through, unprecedented in our history the number in a short proximity. That has given us depth in our squad.
“Evan, it’s his first start and he got a goal. You can’t predict things in the future. He is still learning the game and he took everything in his stride.
“Will (Smallbone), having watched a lot of Stoke recently, I’m just so impressed with how he has kicked on. He has added other aspects to his game so he has given us something to think about.
“Mikey (Johnston), that was a snapshot of what Mikey can be.”
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