DUNDALK WINGER Michael Duffy could be rewarded for his impressive recent form as Stephen Kenny prepares to name his Ireland squad on Thursday ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia.

The 27-year-old is one of the players to have emerged with credit despite a difficult season for Dundalk, with Friday’s defeat against Drogheda seeing them slip to ninth in the table.

Duffy particularly caught the eye in Europe and was a standout performer as the Lilywhites were narrowly beaten by Vitesse over two legs in the Europa Conference League.

When asked about players he would likely be missing for the upcoming international break, Perth identified Raivis Jurkovskis (Latvia), Sonni Nattestad (Faroe Islands), Wilfried Zahibo (Central African Republic) and “possibly one more”.

When pressed by reporters, Perth said Duffy was “there or thereabouts from what I’m hearing”.

The Derry native played underage football for both the Republic and Northern Ireland and was even called up to the latter’s senior squad by Michael O’Neill.

In 2018, however, he declared his intention to represent the Boys in Green, with Martin O’Neill suggesting he would have made the Irish squad at one point but the move had been held up by paperwork.

Paperwork was again blamed last year when Kenny unsuccessfully tried to call Duffy up before his eligibility switch was finally approved last February.

Despite Duffy making a positive impact, Dundalk have struggled as a collective of late.

Speaking after Friday’s defeat to Drogheda, Perth told reporters: “There are no excuses for where we are at the moment. There are some reasons, but as a club, as players and staff, we’ve let our supporters down over the last couple of games. We’ve got to be better than that, it’s not acceptable.

“Very seldom have I ever criticised any of our players and I’m not going to do it tonight.

“But the second goal, for argument’s sake, was almost a vintage Dundalk goal in terms of that break and that speed and power.

“But it is what it is, we have to accept that and we give [Drogheda] full credit for it.”

He continued: “Since I’ve come in, I’ve tried to create an environment to allow them to flourish. I think they’ve done that at times. Even in the Pat’s game, it was one of the best first halves I’ve ever seen. 

“I can sit here and be critical of why we’re in this situation, but that’s for another day. I just have to trust that we’ve got really good players. But the scars of Europe are really hurting the team, for many reasons — injuries and other bits and pieces.”

Asked whether his side were now in a relegation fight, as they currently sit ninth in the table, albeit with games in hand on their rivals, Perth replied: “No, we’re not thinking of that in any shape or form. I’m not thinking of where we are in a league position. I’m not a scrapper and we don’t coach that way.

“We made a change at half-time. I thought it worked to a point — Sean Murray came on [for Greg Sloggett] and was excellent. We were a bit more forward-thinking. We won some big games here playing 4-4-2 and digging in. But that’s not a style that suits me. So until I’m in [a relegation fight], I’m going to continue to do what I think this team is capable of. 

“No matter what happens, the players can blame the owners, they can blame the management here, they can blame what the coaching staff have done, but they also have to show a little bit of professional pride in themselves and not end up in this situation. They’re too good for that. I heard one supporter say to me tonight he’s been going to Oriel Park for over 40 years and he said that the performance against Vitesse was the best he’d seen from any Dundalk team. We’ve come a long way from that. There are some reasons — Patrick McEleney, Darragh Leahy, David McMillan and there’s more [injuries]. We’ve lost game changers off the bench and starters, but they’re excuses and I think they’ve gone beyond that.

“Mistakes have been made at this club outside of the players, but tonight is about players who also need to give something back, not just to the club, but to the supporters from this town that’s been very good to them for the last 10 years.

“I’ve faced the wrath of a lot of people by trying to quell the noise around the club a little bit and trying not to almost stand here as much as I could because I was trying to keep the noise out of the club.

“To be fair, [the players] hear the criticism of the modern world I live in. But they have to accept it as well.

“We have a lot of guys who have played international football and been in one or two Europa League group stages etc. The one thing I’ve learned is that the highs in football are brilliant but the lows are sometimes not worth it. As a footballer, you’ve got to deal with that.”

Perth also rejected the suggestion that bringing together a dressing room with many different cultures and a host of new signings ahead of this season was an issue.

“I don’t want our players to use that excuse, certainly the ones that have been here a long time. It’s too easy to use that excuse.

“But there’s no doubt that we’ve players here from outside Ireland who were expecting a lot different to what they’ve turned up to. This place is bleak, as we all know. Tonight, the people in the ground helped it. I thought that one goal might have been a turning point, but ultimately it wasn’t. Drogheda got the two big goals. The first goal is their first real chance and they’ve had a couple of chances on the break. And they were worthy winners to be fair, so I wouldn’t be critical of them. 

“I just don’t think there’s the right strength in depth [at the club]. That’s the only way I can put it. We can’t lose four or five players out of our starting 13 or 14, and that’s where we’re at now. We can’t do that anymore.”