Cork City striker Sean Maguire believes it is only a matter of time before he receives his first call up to the Republic of Ireland senior set up. The 23 year old has been in red hot form so far this season, scoring 22 goals in 22 competitive games s
Cork City striker Sean Maguire believes it is only a matter of time before he receives his first call up to the Republic of Ireland senior set up.
The 23 year old has been in red hot form so far this season, scoring 22 goals in 22 competitive games so far this season, leading to calls for him to be given a chance at international level.
The Cork forward, who is set to swap City for Preston North End at the end of this month, was in impressive form yet again on Thursday evening.
His second half hat trick helped the club progress to the second qualifying round of the Europa League following an emphatic 6-2 aggregate win over Levadia Tallinn.
And speaking to reporters shortly after full time, Maguire remains confident he will one day seal a place in Martin O’Neill’s squad.
“It’s driven me on to impress them even more and you’ve seen in the last couple of weeks I’m really working hard,” insisted the former under 21 Irish international.
“My first priority is to do well for Cork City and when I go over to Preston it will be to impress the new manager and get into the team straight away and then I’ll look ahead to maybe an Irish cap one day.
“Obviously it’s disappointing not getting called up but I’m not really too pushed on it. I know one day that I will put on the Irish jersey and show them how good I am.”
The City number 24’s goals against the Estonians at Turners Cross also saw the front man become the club’s all-time leading in Europe with six, edging just ahead of former centre back Dan Murray.
That treble would also prove to be his first goals from open play in Europe following successful penalties against Linfield (2) and BK Hacken in last season’s competition.
And whilst Maguire received a bit of stick from his team mates beforehand, he admits it was a special moment to break the record.
“I got a bit of stick off the boys over the past couple of weeks because I hadn’t scored from open play in Europe before until tonight,” added the former Dundalk player.
“It was really special, in front of my family, in front of a packed house at Turner’s Cross, there’s no better feeling,
“Benno actually reminded me going into the game. He said to me ‘you can be a history-maker tonight’ and the first person who came up to me in the dressing room was Benno, he said to me ‘congratulations’ and it’s a great feeling.
“Obviously the result is what mattered. There was a few shaky moments when they were 2-1 up, knowing that if they scored another goal we were out.
“It was really important that I did score early in the second half. That was a stepping stone to do what we did in the later parts of the second half.”
The Kilkenny native will now have two more games to add further goals to his tally in Europe as the Leesiders will now take on Cyprus side AEK Larnaca in the second round with the first leg set for a 7:45 kick off at Turners Cross next Thursday evening.
Maguire will be looking to use those games as well as his remaining SSE Airtricity League fixtures to try and impress incoming Preston boss Alex Neil, who recently replaced Simon Grayson as manager.
Maguire is set to meet his future team mates when they arrive at Fota Island resort for a pre-season training camp in the next few days but enthused that it will not alter his focus on his current club.
“People ask me am I looking forward to Preston and I obviously am, but I haven’t really thought about it that much,” claimed Maguire.
“I’m fully focused on what I’m doing at Cork City, and that’s to progress in the Europa League and leave them in a really good position in the league.
“Obviously the manager who signed me is gone, he got the opportunity to go to Sunderland and I wish him all the best.
“But with the new manager coming in, it’s a great opportunity for myself and Kevin, he probably hasn’t heard about the two of us.
“It’s a great opportunity and it’s one I’m really looking forward to. Myself and Kevin have spoken about it.
“All the players at Preston, we’re all in the same boat, looking to impress the manager. Hopefully tonight I’ve caught his eye and I hope to do that in the next two or three games.”
