Norwich City: Republic of Ireland mission for Adam Idah

Idah had a goal disallowed for offside in the weekend’s 1-0 away defeat to the Netherlands that now looks set to signal the end for head coach Stephen Kenny.

The Irish only picked up two group wins against minnows Gibraltar in a tough section featuring France, the Dutch and Dimi Giannoulis’ Greece.

Idah joined up with the Republic after he had notched his fifth Championship goal of the season in 15 appearances to seal a late comeback against Cardiff City.

The 22-year-old knows he must keep scoring for his club to stake a claim in an Irish squad desperate to emulate the exploits of yesteryear and reach a major tournament.

“Look, at the end of the day we had a tough group. We had France, Holland, Greece are a good side and I think people forget that,” said Idah, who could be back in action on Tuesday in a Dublin friendly against New Zealand. “We are coming up against some of the best teams in the world and we’ve gone head-to-head with all of them, probably bar that Greece game away and probably at home as well.

“All the players here are still very young. There is so much experience that we are gaining and hopefully in years to come we can start qualifying for big tournaments.

“I’ve been in the squad nearly three years now and I still have plenty of years to go. Obviously that’s the main goal, to qualify for these big tournaments.

“We do need to get these big wins against these big teams, even if it’s just holding out for a point it makes such a big difference at the end of the day.”

Brighton’s teenage sensation Evan Ferguson is at present the poster boy for a young crop of Irish strikers. Idah was introduced at the break against the Dutch to partner Ferguson, but the Seagulls’ forward was forced off before the hour mark with a hamstring issue.

"Everyone knows Ev is a top-class player and I love playing with Ev, he’s unbelievable to play with. He is such a great young lad,” said Idah, who has scored twice in 20 appearances for his country. “There is so much more that we can give and there are many more years where we can play together.

“But I think overall our attacking unit as a team is unbelievable. We’ve still got Troy Parrott, Callum (Robinson), Michael Obafemi, Will Keane, we’ve got loads of players that we can roll out. It’s great.

“They’ve all got different abilities. Mine is to try and threaten as much as I can in behind, and I try to bring that as much as I could. Maybe it’s something different that I added to Evan and Cal, but to be fair to them they were really good.”