Mark Travers is ready to establish himself as a Premier League No 1.
That’s the view of returning Republic of Ireland goalkeeper coach and former international Alan Kelly.
Leixlip lad Travers, 20, was man-of-the-match on his Premier League debut in Bournemouth’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in the second last game of the season.
And he retained the gloved for the madcap 5-3 defeat at Crystal Palace that brought the curtain down on the campaign.
Travers made the Ireland squad for the March double-header wins over Gibraltar and Georgia and will be involved again against Denmark and Gibraltar.
He is unlikely to dislodge Darren Randolph for those matches, but is Mick McCarthy’s second-choice keeper.
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” said Kelly. “With the younger ones, they’ll have a little blip every now and again.
“It's about riding that out but when you’re in the Premier League it's easier said than done as the pressure to stay in that league and get points is different.
“But I think he has put himself in the situation where he’s challenging to be No 1.”
Kelly continued: “When you look at the impact he made in that Tottenham game, did it surprise them a bit, did they think we thought he was going to be good?
“We're looking at potential, but he got man-of-the-match and has put down a real marker.
“He's saying he's not just there to have a couple of games as the next young prospect - he's saying ‘I want to challenge, give me the opportunity to challenge’.
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