Three goals in 384 days: Ireland's great hope Evan Ferguson needs to rediscover his mojo after year from hell

Irish football has been in the doldrums for well over a decade at this stage, so it was inevitable that Ferguson's emergence would spark giddy excitement among the nation's long-suffering football fans.

From the moment he made his first appearance for Bohemians in a friendly against Chelsea at just 14 years of age, his every move was closely monitored, and each step forward greeted with glee.

However, it became clear after Ferguson's subsequent switch to Brighton that Ireland's great hope was a genuinely prodigious talent. Ferguson scored 10 times in all competitions during his first full season with the Seagulls' senior side and manager Roberto De Zerbi felt there was no point in trying to downplay the striker's superstar potential.

"He can become big, big, big," the Italian told Sky Sports after the hat-trick against Newcastle in August 2023. "His qualities are enough to become a great player. He can become one of the best, the top scorer in Europe. He was born in 2004, he's 18 - I don't know many players that young that score like him."

However, after making it four goals in his first four appearances of the 2023-24 season with his historic treble, Ferguson added just two more to his tally before his campaign was brought to a premature end by injury at the end of March - and everyone wanted to know why.

De Zerbi was largely supportive of his struggling striker but he also pointed out that Ferguson still had a lot to learn - which seemed fair enough, given his tender age.

"There is a time when [young players] play very well and they score," the Brighton boss told BBC Sport in December of last year, "but, in different moments, they can suffer [from] the level of competition.

"In the last two months, Evan suffered, from injury and other things, and he can play better. The level of Evan is higher than the level he is playing at in this moment, so we have to help him.

"But he has to help himself first of all, to understand better the play. He’s very young, though, he is like my son and I try everything to help him become a great player, for sure."

By February, though, De Zerbi intimated that Ferguson wasn't just being held back by nagging fitness issues. "The team needs Evan," the former Sassuolo coach said, "but Evan at 100 percent of his physical and mental condition."

There were suggestions, though, that De Zerbi wasn't exactly helping Ferguson get out of his rut.

Eyebrows were raised when Charlie Mulgrew expressed some concern over how Ferguson was being utilised by De Zerbi while preparing for certain fixtures last season.

According to the former Celtic midfielder, who attended Brighton training sessions as he looked to make the transition from player to coach, De Zerbi organised practice games between his likely starting line-up and an 11 charged with replicating the set-up and tactics of their next opponents.

Ahead of a meeting with Forest, Mulgrew says Ferguson didn’t even get to touch the ball.

"They’ve got two or three coaches coaching the ‘other team’ and this is different, I’ve never seen this before,” the Scot explained on the Open Goal podcast. “So, they’ve got Forest on this particular weekend and, obviously, Forest are a bit of a low block in a 4-4-2, so [De Zerbi] has got [his assistants] coaching the 'other team' exactly how they (Forest) move.

"Bibs on, 1-11 is a Nottingham Forest team, and they're pressing how Forest would press... It must be so bad for the boy Ferguson training like that two days in a row... it's all build-up [play] coming towards him, and he's got [the coaches] just moving him, swinging his shoulders and body position.

"Whenever the ball comes up to Ferguson, they'd blow the whistle and go back to the start. They saw the play through but the 'Forest team' never, ever got the ball. [Ferguson] must have been [raging] but obviously he's got that much respect for the manager, he's just coming through... that [the forwards] all go work on their finishing themselves and they're desperate for a five-a-side, they must be."

Former Brighton striker Warren Aspinall also claimed that Ferguson's lack of game time in the Premier League so far this season (just 101 minutes across six appearances) is down to the fact that he's having to adapt to a whole new style of play under Fabian Hurzeler, who took over from De Zerbi during the summer.

"You can't forget he's still a teenager," Aspinall told BBC Radio Sussex's 'Albion Unlimited' podcast just a few days before Ferguson turned 20 on October 19. "He's just trying to integrate into the first team. The injury set him back a long way but so did the De Zerbi way of coming short for everything. I don't think Hurzeler wants his centre-forwards to do that.

"So, Ferguson has to get his game going again - stretching teams and playing as a natural centre-forward, and not in the De Zerbi way of coming short all the time."

However, there have been encouraging signs in the last few weeks that Ferguson is starting to find his feet.

The competition for a starting spot in the Brighton attack is certainly intense, with veteran striker Danny Welbeck in fine form and doing an excellent job leading the line, and Joao Pedro and Georgino Rutter also getting themselves amongst the goals.

However, Hurzeler made it clear from the start that he feels Ferguson has a massive role to play this season.

"He doesn’t have to show me what he can do, because I already know his potential," the 31-year-old said. "I've seen a lot of games in the past for Brighton. He is a great finisher in the box. He has the whole package for a striker, so for me it’s important that he integrates in our style of play, that he follows our principles.

"He doesn’t have to prove anything to me. He should do his work on the pitch, in possession, out of possession. He should help the team and then he will have a great impact on our game, for sure."

At the tail end of October, Ferguson finally ended his 11-month goal drought with a well-taken strike in the 2-2 draw with Wolves, while his towering header for Ireland in Thursday night's 1-0 win over Finland was his first goal at international level for more than a year.

Encouragingly, when asked afterwards if he felt he was getting back to something resembling full fitness, Ferguson told RTE Sport, "Definitely, it's been a lot harder than I thought it would be after the surgery, but I'm getting there.

"It's always hard to predict the timeline when [an injury] happens. It just depends on my body and I'm glad I didn't rush it. But now I'm back, I'm feeling good and I'm probably in the best shape I've been in."

Which is great news for both Brighton and Ireland - but certainly not England's central defenders at Wembley on Sunday. Because Ferguson showed flashes of his former self against Finland. He was strong in the air, created chances for others and, most importantly of all, got the goal he so desperately needed from a psychological perspective.

Patience is clearly required. Ferguson has not played an awful lot of football of late and he could obviously be in for a long night in London. His team is unlikely to see much of the ball against the Three Lions.

But that won't stop Irish fans praying for even a "hint of Haaland" from Ferguson. Despite all his struggles for form and fitness over the last year, he remains their great hope.