Without doubt, the biggest plus of the Stephen Kenny era up to this point has been the emergence of a number of young players onto the international stage.
The Ireland manager has handed out a huge number of debuts during his time in charge, with many of those players going on to establish themselves as key members of the team.
Gavin Bazunu is the prime example.
Having only made his international debut in March, he looks like he has been playing on that stage for over a decade.
The goalkeeper took his game to a new level during the most recent window, putting in three fantastic performances. His showing against Serbia was one of the best we have seen from an Ireland player in many years.
18 - Gavin Bazunu made 18 saves from 22 shots on target faced for Republic of Ireland this week:
vs Portugal: 5 saves from 7 shots on target faced
vs Azerbaijan: 3 saves from 4 shots on target faced
vs Serbia: 10 saves from 11 shots on target faced
Future. pic.twitter.com/z6tPXpsuc7— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 7, 2021
Unsurprisingly, he has carried that form back to his club.
Bazunu is on loan from Manchester City at Portsmouth in League One this season, already earning plenty of plaudits for his performances up to this point in the campaign.
Yesterday's game against MK Dons was the latest example. While his side would ultimately lose 1-0, the goalkeeper pulled off a number of remarkable saves during the 90 minutes, including a couple to keep out international teammate Troy Parrott.
🧤 𝘽𝙄𝙂 𝘽𝘼𝙕 continued his fine form yesterday#Pompey pic.twitter.com/ZKSE2w5EpA
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) September 12, 2021
Speaking after the game, Portsmouth captain Clark Robertson was full of praise for the Dubliner.
Gav has been different class since he came in.
He almost plays as a third centre-back behind us. On the ball, shot stopping, everything about him is just different class.
It gives me and [Sean Raggett] so much confidence and I think that has shown by us only conceding two goals in the first six games.
Despite still only being 19-years old, Bazunu looks to be quickly outgrowing this level. He will certainly earn plenty of experience over the coming months as Portsmouth would be expected to make a promotion push.
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