Shane Duffy has promised to do all he can to help Aaron Connolly step up.

And that includes a bit of social media banter at times.

The two Irishmen had a knockabout exchange during the recent international break.

Connolly, the young striker from Galway, has made his Premier League debut and could join Duffy in the senior Irish squad after catching Mick McCarthy’s eye.

Duffy said: “We all know he has got a bright future. He has just got to keep working hard and keep his head on his shoulders and keep battling.

“He knows now there are only two strikers at the club and he is the third so he is going to get chances.

“I’ve said, ‘Don’t change your mentality, keep pushing' and he has got a big future.”

Asked whether he feared Connolly might not keep a sensible head on his shoulders, Duffy said: “Not really, because I’ll keep it there for him!

“No, it’s a good group of lads here and we will bring him straight back down to earth.”

With reference to the social media exchange, Duffy said: “He has got a lot of attention at the minute with Ireland and here and he is only young.

“I have played a lot of games now and I know he has got the right head on his shoulders so it’s just a bit of banter between us, try and look after him.”