Keith Long: 'The ceiling for Evan Ferguson is endless'

From an Ireland point of view, the 27th and France has been the tip of the mountaintop just about visible on the horizon since the Euro 2024 qualifier fixtures were confirmed last autumn.

But now that the rubicon into March has been crossed, the task for Stephen Kenny's side against the 2022 World Cup runners-up looms larger and larger as that Aviva Stadium date approaches.

And the most talked about Irish player on the road towards that match - and the earlier friendly to come versus Latvia - has undoubtedly been Evan Ferguson.

Since the Boys in Green's last fixtures against Norway and Malta last November, the 18-year-old has scored his first three Premier League goals and netted the winner for Brighton at Stoke in the FA Cup fifth round at the end of February.

His progress marks a remarkable rise, having made his senior football debut with Bohemians back in in July 2019 in a friendly against Chelsea when he was, incredibly, just 14.

The man who gave him that first shot at the big time was Keith Long and the ex-Bohs manager joined the RTÉ Soccer Podcast this week alongside former St Pat's and Shelbourne boss Johnny McDonnell.

Naturally, the subject of Ferguson came up given his current status within the game and Long shared his insight into what the next step of the striker's evolution will look like.

Keith Long and Johnny McDonnell joined Raf Diallo and Anthony Pyne on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast with the latest LOI action among the talking points:

We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

"He's been compared to the