Aaron Connolly looks forward to 'better days' under new Ireland boss Stephen Kenny

Republic of Ireland striker Aaron Connolly is looking forward to ‘better days’ for the senior national team under Stephen Kenny.

The Brighton & Hove Albion player was brought into the senior fold by outgoing manager Mick McCarthy in October, making his debut as a late substitute in the 0-0 Euro 2020 qualifier away to Georgia.

He had, until then, been working under Kenny with the Irish under-21s, having earned a regular starting spot on the left-hand side of the front three.

Kenny was due to take up the position as senior manager in August following the conclusion of McCarthy’s contract after Euro 2020.

However, the postponement of the tournament prompted the FAI to move quickly and put Kenny in situ immediately to begin planning for the play-offs and Nations League later this year.

And Connolly, who made his breakthrough to the Brighton first team earlier this season, expressed his gratitude to McCarthy before predicting Kenny to make a big impact in the coming months.

“I can’t say a bad word about Mick because he gave me my international debut,” Connolly told Galway Bay FM.

“I’m going to be grateful to him for however long. But it’s good that Stephen’s coming in as well.

“He’s looked after me since I’ve come into the U21 set-up obviously with Keith Andrews, who has just got the assistant manager’s job.

"It’s brilliant. I’m happy for Stephen and I’m happy for Keith. Obviously I think everyone is gutted to see Mick go because he did a good job.

"Personally I am as well, but Stephen Kenny coming in, he’s a really, really good manager so we can definitely look forward to better days and good days with the Ireland senior team.”