Evan Ferguson revealed he has learned to ignore the outside noise after helping to secure the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League B status with his first goal since November.
The 22-year-old striker, who is on loan at West Ham from Brighton, scored the equaliser as Ireland came from behind to beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the second leg of their play-off on Sunday night to seal a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Ferguson, whose last goal for club or country came against Finland four months ago, has been one of the nation’s brightest hopes since emerging as a teenager, but has found the going tough in recent months.

Asked how he has dealt with the weight of expectation, he said: “There’s nothing really I can do about it, is there? To be honest, it’s other people having that expectation of you.
“Obviously you have that expectation of yourself that you want to do well every time you play football, but you can’t really control what other people think of you.”
Asked further if he had become adept at blocking out the noise, he added: “Yes, I think so. I’ve had more probably bad than good in the recent times, so I’ve got used to it. I don’t really care what’s being said.”
Ferguson had played only a handful of minutes as a substitute for the Hammers since his winter loan move when he met up with the international squad and had only a cameo role in Plovdiv on Thursday evening.

But he was named in the starting line-up at the Aviva Stadium and produced a finish of real quality 27 minutes from time.
Assistant head coach John O’Shea, standing in for Heimir Hallgrimsson at the post-match press conference, said: “The most important thing is that we have a healthy Evan Ferguson, a fitter Evan Ferguson each camp that goes by, and hopefully that will be the case.
“West Ham know him, the manager knows him very well, so hopefully they’re getting a much fitter and happier Evan Ferguson in that sense going back with minutes in the tank and a goal as well.”
Ferguson’s strike cancelled out Valentin Antov’s first-half opener and set the stage for substitute Adam Idah to win it on the night.

It was the third time in six games that Ireland had prevailed after conceding the opening goal – something they had not previously done in a competitive match since they beat Kazakhstan in Dublin in October 2013.
On a night when Portugal ensured their place as top seeds in Ireland’s World Cup qualifying group, O’Shea said: “Listen, you need that resilience if you’re going to qualify for major tournaments.
“We have to be winning these games in the sense of ultimately a Group B team against a Group C team, but when you go about it the way we did, we had that character to just dust ourselves down, reset, get our chances and go and win the game.”
Leyton Orient remain on course for the Sky Bet League One play-offs after a 1-0 win which dented Wycombe’s hopes of automatic promotion.Randell Williams scored the only goal of the game and Orient’s victory, their fifth in succession, leaves them ahead of seventh-placed Reading on goal difference.Defeat for the Chairboys, though, has handed the initiative to Wrexham, who could seal the...

Doncaster clinched promotion to League One after goals from Rob Street and Billy Sharp secured a 2-1 win over 10-man Yorkshire rivals Bradford.In an incident-packed encounter in front of over 12,500 fans – the Eco-Power Stadium’s biggest crowd of the season – Doncaster hit the post through Jordan Gibson before on-loan Lincoln striker Street gave Rovers a 33rd-minute lead with his...

Reading’s hunt for a Sky Bet League One play-off spot will go to the final day of the season after the Royals beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 at the Memorial Stadium.Lewis Wing’s eighth league goal of the season after 67 minutes and Chem Campbell’s added-time effort leaves the Pirates staring at relegation after Noel Hunt’s side had to survive a first-half onslaught from the hosts....

Jamie Andrews struck a late equaliser as Woking twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Eastleigh in the National League.Tyrese Shade put the visitors in front after 14 minutes, played in on goal by Ben Close before finding the bottom corner of the net.Woking then drew level three minutes before the break when Aiden O’Brien headed in from Jacob Jones’ free-kick.Shade had Eastleigh back...

Port Vale secured automatic promotion to League One after beating AFC Wimbledon 2-0 at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.Second-half goals by Jayden Stockley and Jaheim Hedley ensured Vale would finish in the top three and also made a dent in the home side’s push for the play-offs.Vale created the first real attempt of the game which saw Lorent Tolaj fire over from 12 yards out following a cros...

Zian Flemming and Jeremy Sarmiento both scored twice as Burnley emphatically maintained their Championship title hopes by hammering QPR 5-0 in their penultimate match of the season.Josh Cullen also netted in a one-sided game as the Clarets, already promoted along with Leeds, won with ease to move to the top of the table, three points ahead of the Yorkshire side.However, Leeds, who are at home to B...

Nicolas Jackson ended his long goal drought to fire Chelsea a step nearer to the Champions League with a 1-0 win against Everton at Stamford Bridge.A dominant display was capped by the winning goal scored midway through the first half, the striker’s first since December 15 finished confidently from 20 yards past Jordan Pickford as though he had been scoring every week, as suspended head coac...

Celtic clinched the William Hill Premiership title in style with a 5-0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice.Nicolas Kuhn and substitute Adam Idah both hit doubles after Ryan Strain’s 30th-minute own-goal kicked off the rout.Celtic had only needed a point but they wrapped up their fourth consecutive championship in similar fashion to last year, when a 5-0 win at Kilmarnock earned Brendan R...

Chris Wilder labelled his side’s 2-0 win over Stoke a “proper away performance” as they got back to winning ways.The Blades had seen their automatic promotion hopes ended after losing four of their previous five, including their last three matches away from Bramall Lane.An improved showing saw Sam McCallum, making just his eighth start of the campaign, score late in the first hal...

Goals from Sam McCallum and Andre Brooks ensured Sheffield United returned to winning ways with by beating Stoke 2-0.The Blades had seen their automatic promotion hopes ended after losing four of their previous five, including their last three matches away from Bramall Lane.McCallum had scored just one goal since his summer move from Norwich but popped up at the back post when Rhian Brewster&rsquo...



- 1 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 2 Cole Palmer’s girlfriend Connie Grace dazzles in low-cut top and mini skirt
- 3 Man Utd & Man City join PSG in race for Akliouche
- 4 We always have a chance – Miron Muslic bullish as Plymouth boost survival hopes
- 5 Tottenham to compete with Man City for defender
- 6 Ten-man Falkirk beaten by Raith as late goals keep title race alive
- 7 Big Brother legend Chanelle Hayes flaunts weight loss in red bikini
- 8 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 9 Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola fumes over point claimed at 10-man Crystal Palace
- 10 Daily Laugh - Totttenham 1-2 N Forest