On-loan Celtic striker, Johnny Kenny was backed by Shamrock Rovers manager, Stephen Bradley, despite the 20-year-old’s open goal miss that contributed to his side’s 1-0 defeat to Dundalk as they exited the Irish FA Cup.
Kenny was clean through on goal and deftly lobbed the Dundalk ‘keeper. The ball came off the bar and as Kenny followed up with a header from about 2-3 yards, he knocked it over the bar.
The Rovers manager was fairly philosophical about the miss and refused to single out Kenny’s miss as the sole reason his club exited the competition at the first round stage for the first time since 2018.
Bradley said [Independent.ie], “He [Kenny] will be disappointed no doubt. It’s just about resetting and understanding those opportunities will come around again for him.
“I have no doubt on another day he walks away with two or three goals.
“One of Johnny’s strengths is his mindset, he keeps getting in those positions. Tonight, he did but it just wasn’t to be in terms of putting one of them away.
“He was excellent when he came on, caused them real problems, our front three did all night. It comes off the bar, he was really close, under it and can’t get over it and unfortunately, it goes over.
“We had numerous opportunities. On another night we score a couple but tonight it wasn’t to be.”
The defeat consigned Rovers to a five-game winless streak and they have failed to hit the net in four of those fixtures. You can watch the miss here.
Kenny signed a five-year deal with Celtic back in January 2022 and the highly-rated striker was immediately placed into the Celtic B team where he scored three goals in six appearances.
The young Irishman was then loaned to Queens Park the following August where he failed to score in twelve appearances for the then League One side. However, it should be noted that most of his appearances were limited to minutes off the bench.
Kenny then returned to his homeland in December of last year to join Shamrock Rovers in a season-long loan move and has found himself becoming an integral part of the first-team lineup. In 28 appearances he has scored five goals.
Whether Kenny has a future at Celtic remains to be seen but it does look unlikely. At just 20 years old, there is still plenty of time for the young Irishman to develop and progress but his recent goal-scoring record tells you that he needs to find another level if he has to have any hope of making it at Celtic Park.
In other news, Carl Starfelt emerges as summer transfer target as club prepare offer for Celtic defender
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