Sean Maguire has repaired his fractured relationship with Stephen Kenny ahead of the ex-Dundalk boss taking over the Ireland team next year.
Kenny is expected to take over from Mick McCarthy in August after managing the Ireland Under-21s for the Euro 2021 qualification campaign.
But Maguire acted as something of a thorn in the side of Kenny's legendary Oriel Park outfit during his time in the League of Ireland.
The Kilkenny native was the top goalscorer for two seasons while playing for Dundalk's arch rivals Cork City - including a winning goal against them in a cup final - after being unable to seal a spot on the Lilywhites team during his brief stint in 2015.
"Myself and Stephen still keep in touch," Maguire told Mirror Sport after scoring his first international goal against New Zealand on Thursday night.
"I'll send him a message whenever I see that the Under-21s are doing well and vice versa so we have a good relationship.
"What happened with me and Stephen at Dundalk is in the past, in the future I really look forward to working with him.
"He's a manager who's quite high profile and he's done well pretty much everywhere he's gone so it's exciting times."
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