“He’s just different”; Manager impressed by what Johnny Kenny is doing out on loan from Celtic

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Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has shared he loves working with Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny, after the striker hit another goal for the club on Friday night.

Kenny netted a lovely guided header for his third of the season over in Ireland, having made nine appearances since his loan move in January. The youngster was previously at Queen’s Park in the Scottish Championship but that didn’t work out and he’s now aiming for a big 2023 in his homeland before returning to Celtic.

Bradley has offered some insight into the qualities he brings to Rovers, suggesting that Kenny is going to get plenty of first-team opportunities over the coming months.

Johnny Kenny makes big impression

Speaking to The Irish Independent, Bradley said: “I’ve loved him, I’ve loved his attitude and what he’s brought to the group. He’s hungry to score goals. In this team we create so many opportunities and the one thing is he puts himself into positions to miss and if you have that as a centre-forward you’ll always score. People sometimes miss and then don’t want to go into that same area because they’re afraid they’ll miss and Johnny hasn’t got that.

“He’s just different to what we had. He thinks differently to what we’ve had. We have a lot of players who like to link but when we have Johnny it gives us something completely different because we know teams are going to press us but, with Johnny’s pace, if they’re going to press us they’re in trouble.”

Kenny has a Dublin derby to look forward to this Friday, where he’ll be aiming to hit the headlines again. He has already stated his ambition in Ireland is to catch the attention of Celtic and return for a renewed push in Ange Postecoglou’s set-up. It’ll be difficult for him, but the club clearly see the potential.

The youngster was training with the first team every day after his arrival in January 2022, while also featuring for the Celtic B side. He was also included in a pre-season tour last summer as the Bhoys prepared for Ange’s second season.

It’d be great to see him now find consistency across the sea and build a little bit of hype.

In other news, Ange Postecoglou says there’s plenty more to come from Celtic star Jota.