Albion striker Aaron Connolly is relishing the pressure of being asked to provide the goals for a new-look Republic of Ireland.

He was thrust into the international limelight at the age of 19 by Mick McCarthy as a substitute in a Euro 2020 qualifier in Georgia almost 13 months ago.

He now has a chance to establish himself as regular under Stephen Kenny, previously his manager at Under-21 level.

Connolly is still looking for his first goal for Ireland, but is confident both himself and Norwich’s Adam Idah will cope with having to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s record scorer Robbie Keane.

He said: “I love hearing stuff like that and I love the pressure. It’s nice at 20 years of age and 19 for Adam, to have pressure like that on you and fans and coaches expecting things of you.

“I’m never going to shy away from that. I like the way people put pressure on because it makes you feel wanted and they obviously think you can do something great.

“I’m sure me and Adam will have no problem with that.”

Connolly, who has not started a game for his Albion since October 3, is hoping for a chance to line up in his favoured central role following David McGoldrick’s retirement from international football.

That could come against England tomorrow in a friendly at Wembley as Ireland warm up for their Nations League games with Wales and Bulgaria.

But it is a game Connolly insists he will look forward to, but admits he is too young to understand the excitement older generations feels around the fixture.

He said: “The gaffer touched on it, that Darren Randolph was the only one born back in 1988 when Ireland beat England, so maybe it is a bit lost on me as I don’t really understand most of what has gone on or happened. But I am excited.”

Connolly has also backed his Albion team-mate Shane Duffy, who is on loan at Celtic, to get back to his best after being dropped by at the weekend following a difficult fortnight.

He said: “He’s a brilliant centre-half and has shown that for many years, so a couple of games is not going to change what everyone thinks.

“He’s shown for Ireland how good he is and he’s shown for Brighton how good he was and how highly rated he was.”