“FEED THE FISH and he will score.”
It’s the terrace chant that has been Conor Sammon’s calling card since he started firing in goals for Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League.
If he is fed a few chances against Poland, Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni will hope his striker is hungry enough to make the Aviva Stadium sing.
Trapattoni has already dropped strong hints that the Derby County marksman, who has seven goals for the Rams this season, will make his senior international debut in Wednesday night’s friendly.
That would be a dream come true.
“Hopefully I can impress the manager and stake a claim for the upcoming qualifiers,” he said after linking up with the squad for their first training session in Malahide this morning.
“He’s got such experience in the game. I think he’s done brilliantly for the Irish team over the last few years and I just hope I can make myself a part of that.”
Along with Derby clubmates Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh, Sammon caught Trapattoni’s eye when the Italian travelled over to the games against Brighton and Nottingham Forest last month.
The Dubliner has made 30 appearances since moving on from Wigan last season and he’s the first to acknowledge the benefits of playing regular first-team football under manager Nigel Clough.
“I knew that if I started to do well with my club and play week in, week out, that would give me the best chance possible. Thankfully it has and I’ve got this opportunity now.
I think playing week in, week out like I was in Scotland just before I left, that’s how you improve as a player. I felt fitter and stronger than I ever did. I was getting lots of goals up there as well which was obviously brilliant.When I went to Wigan then I was in and out of the team which was quite frustrating, although I do believe I learned a lot from [Roberto] Martinez. He’s a great manager.
I had such a great experience there but I felt the time was right for me to move to Derby and play more regularly and try to improve as a player.
Coming into a squad which has plenty of options in attack, Sammon knows he’ll need to offer something different if he’s to catch Trapattoni’s eye.
“As a striker you’re judged on goals — I’d like to have a lot more goals this season, I’m my own worst critic that way.
“I’m a target man, I don’t mind getting stuck in. I’ll lead the line and look for other players around me. I’ll chase lost causes.”
And is there a chance that we might hear the home fans belting out “Feed the fish…” on Wednesday night?
“You never know.”
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