With today marking one of Ireland’s biggest celebrations with St. Patrick’s Day, the celebrations have largely been cut short by COVID-19 and Gavin Kilkenny is instead making the most of the time by staying indoors with his family.
The 20-year-old Republic of Ireland under-21 international headed back to Dublin at the weekend after the first-team squad were sent into isolation, though he is at least making the most of his time back home with his loved ones.
“It may be St Patrick’s Day but unfortunately I’m not doing a whole lot today,” Kilkenny told afcb.co.uk. “I’m sure it would usually be a bit more hectic.
“I’ve actually never really experienced it in Ireland, being over in England for the last four years now. I’ve never seen that fun side of it, but in general the Irish people do like to have a bit of a session. I’ll be taking it easy but I’m sure my ma and dad will probably be having few drinks later on at home!
“I’m laying low really, chilling out around the house with the family. It’s good in some ways because I don’t get home much but at least I have no choice but to stay at home this time. Usually when I come back I’m really busy going around trying to see everyone.
“I feel like I’ve not spent proper time with my family in years, now I’ve been in the house for the past few days straight which has actually been quite nice. My brother’s off school and off training, so I’ve had a bit of a kickabout with him.”
The young midfielder has broken into the first-team picture in 2019/20 and is also looking to keep himself in good physical condition, following the guidelines of the Cherries coaching staff even while away from the training ground.
He explained: “We were told to stay away from people, stay in a small network. We were given training programmes to keep us ticking over. Then they called us to see how it’s going so we’re ready to come back and play, whenever that is.
“I can’t go out to the gym because that would be a bad idea, but I have been doing a bit of running and there are plenty of things I can do at home.
“We’re waiting to see what the plan is, but for the moment we’re treating it like it’s business as usual. It would be nice to have something to aim for but nobody knows, it could be weeks, months, I’m waiting to see, the same as everyone else.”
