Stephen Kenny hails St Pat's 'Rodri' as Jamie Lennon agrees new deal

St Patrick's Athletic boss Stephen Kenny described Jamie Lennon as "our Rodri" after the midfielder agreed a new long-term deal with the Saints.

Lennon looked likely to leave at the end of the campaign with options on the table to move to America.

However he's had a change of heart since Kenny arrived to completely turn around the Saints' fortunes.

Following in the footsteps of Danny Rogers and Anto Breslin, 27-year-old Lennon has become the third senior player to commit his future to the club over the last week.

The Dubliner was capped at Republic of Ireland Under-21s level four times by Kenny, scoring away to Luxembourg in November 2020 in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier.

"It's brilliant news that Jamie has re-signed," said Kenny.

"When I came in in the summer, Jamie informed me that he was ready to leave the club to go to America at the end of this season, he had a couple of opportunities to go there to the USL, so we are absolutely delighted that has chosen to stay.

"His level of passing, his standards in mid to longe-range passing, has become so consistent and is at such a high level, he's also made the most tackles in the league and his ability to intercept attacks and read defensive situations is outstanding.

"There's not many players like him. He is a conventional number 6 but much more than that. He's our Rodri, in terms of the job he does. Jamie has without doubt, in my opinion, got the capacity to show he is one of the best players in the league over the next number of years."

Lennon aired his desire to bring more success to Inchicore, adding: "The club means a lot to me so to stay here for the next few of years is really important to me and I'm glad it's over the line now.

"The direction the club is going,