After struggling with the “hype” that surrounded him earlier in his career, Troy Parrott hopes to use the confidence gained from a move abroad to help the Republic of Ireland’s cause against Finland and Greece this week.
The 22-year-old striker has flourished in the top tier of Dutch football over the past year, recently netting four in a game for new club AZ Alkmaar after scoring 17 times on loan for Excelsior last season.
Parrott’s move to the Netherlands came after several loan spells in the second and third tiers of English football away from Tottenham, for whom he managed only four senior appearances after being handed his Premier League debut by Jose Mourinho aged 17.
But having starred for AZ Alkmaar – who are third in the Eredivisie and are in this season’s Europa League – Parrott aims to breathe new life into his international career after being an unused substitute in last month’s Nations League games.
“When I was a bit younger, I’ll tell the truth, it used to get to me a bit,” Parrott, who has five goals in 23 caps, said of his early-career pressure.
He added: “Just trying to live up to the hype in a way at such a young age where it was never going to happen that early, football’s never so easy. It was more about growing up a bit and trying to block the noise out.
“It [the hype] was a lot with the media. There weren’t people around me from within. I obviously knew I had talent. How good I was I don’t know. I didn’t get many games to try and show that.”
‘I’m not going to cry about being overlooked’
Parrott was signed by AZ Alkmaar in July after a season-long loan stint at Excelsior, who were relegated from the Eredivisie in June despite the Dubliner’s goalscoring exploits.
He quickly made an impression for AZ, netting four in a 9-1 demolition of Heerenveen last month before scoring a match-winning penalty against Elfsborg in the Europa League.
“To be away, it’s not necessarily being out of the spotlight, it’s just a new experience for me that I’m really enjoying,” said Parrott.
“For me to be enjoying my football is the most important thing and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve managed to do well up to now.”
Parrott, who made his senior international debut in 2019, scored a late winner in the Republic of Ireland’s friendly against Hungary in June.
And while that came hot on the heels of a prolific end to last season with Excelsior, he was left on the bench by new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson during last month’s defeats by England and Greece.
Parrott admits that was “disappointing” but added he is not going to “sit around and cry about” it as he looks to make an impact against Finland and Greece over the next week.
“If I get the chance to play I’m going to feel like I’m ready and like I can make an impact on the game,” he said.
“I can see why the team feels low on form because of the previous results but it’s on all of us to turn that around.”
Parrott is expected to feature for a Republic of Ireland team whose only competitive wins in the past two years have come against minnows Gibraltar.
But while Hallgrimsson’s tenure began in dispiriting fashion with back-to-back home defeats, Parrott took exception to the perception that this Irish side are easily beaten.
“I don’t think we’re easy to beat. I think internationally, all the teams are good so every game is a real test,” he said.
“It’s about trying to right the wrongs from the last camp and try and pick up results.
“It’s been a difficult couple of campaigns for us in terms of results and quality of group opponents. The last group [in Euro 2024 qualifying] was Netherlands and France, world-class countries. It’s on us to try turn it around and start picking up results more regularly to get back to where we want to be.”