Conor Coventry on Irish dreams and 'incredible' Haaland

Conor Coventry is half veteran, half rising talent with an old head on young shoulders and a burning ambition to succeed.

In June, the West Ham midfielder broke the Republic of Ireland record for U-21 caps when he captained the Boys in Green to a 3-1 European Championship qualifier victory over Montenegro.

He's a leader in Jim Crawford's dressing room, but at club level the 22-year-old is still battling to break into the first team consistently.

Having joined the Hammers in 2018, Coventry has since had loan spells at Lincoln City, Peterborough United and MK Dons, although he's hovering around the fringes this term and got on the pitch for the last few minutes of August's 2-0 loss to Manchester City.

"Of course it's a different situation," Coventry said on the the eve of Ireland's Euros play-off first leg against Israel at Tallaght Stadium.

"At West Ham, I’d be one of the younger ones and more fighting for a place in the team whereas here, I’m still fighting for a place but I’m more established, more experienced.

"It’s a different scenario, but with both it’s the same. You’re going out and playing football and your fundamentals need to be right. It’s easy to adapt between the two as long as you’re doing everything properly."

Ireland can make their own bit of history if they get past Israel. Never before has the country reached a major finals at the U-21 age grade.

Coventry says they are excited and massively determined, but he knows it won't be easy.

"They're a good side, a really good side. They want to play out from the back and into midfield and they’ve got some real technical players and some power as well.

"They’re a well balanced team and a modern team as well, it’s good to see the way they play. It will be interesting to see