Daryl Horgan has hailed the influence of his doppelganger Damien Duff, as the Wycombe man breathes new life into his Republic of Ireland career this week.
Horgan - and his former Preston teammate Seani Maguire - were late call-ups to the Ireland set-up ahead of Sunday's UEFA Nations League game with Wales.
The 28-year old was a second half replacement for Robbie Brady in the 0-0 draw at the Aviva, and had his own chance to nab the second goal of the Stephen Kenny era.
Horgan had a header blocked with 12-minutes to go at the Aviva, and then couldn't keep the rebound down.
Ireland haven't found the net in any of their last three outings, with many pondering where in fact the next goal is going to come from.
"How do you fix it? That’s why the best centre forwards go for a hundred million quid, Horgan said.
"They are good at it, and natural. It could be the case of us getting one and they’ll flow. It might be a bit of confidence, or luck, whatever you like to call it.
"Maybe, on Wednesday, it will hit someone on the arse and go in, and it could just go from there."
"It’s easier said than done, but the rest of the stuff is very, very good.
"You can see what the manager has put in place and the way he wants us to play. We are creating chances so that side of it is good. Now it’s the last, tiny detail, but the most important detail."
Duffer influence
Having someone on the backroom team who was a dab-hand at creating and scoring themselves is always likely to help.
That man in the Ireland set-up is one of Kenny's assistant's Damien Duff, "I spoke to Duff [before the Wales game] and he outlined what he wanted me to do very, very clearly.
"When you have that clarity going on to the pitch it’s a big, big help."
Horgan says one pleasing aspect of the side is that they're actually creating chances again. With that, he hopes the goals can eventually follow - starting in Helsinki on Wednesday evening.
"It’s not anyone’s fault bar my own that the ball didn’t go in [against Wales]," he said, "That’s just it, you need to put the ball into the back of the net.
"It would be different if we weren’t creating chances and we weren’t cutting teams open. Because that’s a good team [Wales] with an experienced back four.
"So to be able to cut them open and create chances is what we needed to do."
His 15-minutes off the bench on Sunday ended a near two-year absence from the international scene for the winger who rose to prominence at Dundalk.
That Horgan's working again under the man who helped ignite his career is a bonus, "It obviously helps.
"This is a new team, he has a similar enough way of playing but with a few differences.
"I know the manager, I played under him before and he was the one to instil belief in me, so that’s a big plus."
