HAVING JUST turned 19 years of age, you would be forgiven for thinking that Gavin Bazunu is nowhere near ready to start in goal for Ireland.
But given the recent news that Darren Randolph will miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, and Caoimhín Kelleher only just returning to training with Liverpool, Stephen Kenny finds himself in a spot of bother.
While Kelleher impressed in his time playing for Liverpool earlier this season, he hasn't been getting much game time since the turn of the new year, so it might be time for heads to turn in the direction of young Gavin Bazunu.
Bazunu is on loan from Manchester City at Rochdale, and has played every league game so far this season.
While the standard is nowhere near that of what Kelleher occasionally gets to play at, a lot can be said for actually playing week in week out, especially when it comes to keepers. In such an important position, consistency is key.
It's that time of the weekend... ⌚️
The latest from the Gavin Bazunu catalogue of 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 🧤#RAFC pic.twitter.com/2zFarn2Low— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) March 14, 2021
Stephen Kenny is known for trusting young players, and is no stranger to managing inexperienced players thanks to his time as Ireland's under 21 manager.
Speaking last week, Kenny said that he "really likes" the young keeper, and that he's been having a "really good" season so far, so we would be surprised if he's not in the squad at the very least.
So it would not be at all surprising if Bazunu is between the sticks when we take on Serbia on 24 March.
