'He's similar to me' - Keane says Parrott has been under-utilised by Ireland

Robbie Keane says that striker Troy Parrott has been under utilised by successive Republic of Ireland managers and has backed the in-form centre forward to get better and better.

Ireland's record goalscorer saw Parrott's ability close up on Thursday evening as the striker netted against Keane's Ferencvaros in the UEFA Europa League. The Hungarians ran out 4-3 winners, with both sides securing their places in the knockout stage play-off next month.

Keane previously worked with Parrott when the then teenager made his Republic of Ireland debut in 2019, when Mick McCarthy was manager and Keane was his assistant.

In Keane's first game in front of Ferencvaros' vocal home support - there were 18,657 fans in the Groupama Arena last night - Parrott began the game as a substitute.

However, the Dubliner was introduced with AZ Alkmaar 3-0 down and he scored as the Dutch side produced a late rally to leave Keane sweating to hold on to his first victory with his new team.

The Ferencvaros boss took time after the match to heap praise on Parrott, who has notched 13 goals in his season with AZ.

With a Nations League double header to come against Bulgaria in March, and the World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign beginning later in the year, Keane said that the striker should be seeing more action for the Boys in Green.

"Me personally, I think he should be having more game time with the national team over the last year or two years, if I'm being honest," Keane told reporters.

"I think he has something different. He's clever, he's difficult to play against because he can go in behind and he can come short. In ways, he's very similar to me. The two of us weren't the quickest but we're sharp over 10, 15 yards. And then you see how his brain works on the