SPURRED ON BY his recent involvement with the Republic of Ireland, Lee O’Connor is hoping to follow in the footsteps of John O’Shea.
In spite of his lack of first-team experience, O’Connor was invited to link up with the Irish senior squad by former manager Martin O’Neill for the games against Northern Ireland and Denmark.
Although he didn’t feature in either fixture, O’Neill described the Manchester United player as “a very impressive young man” who could have “a decent future” in the game.
O’Connor is keen to emulate the achievements of fellow Waterford native John O’Shea, who made 393 appearances at United and won 118 caps for his country.
“There have been a lot of very good Irish players [at United],” O’Connor told MUTV. “John O’Shea was probably the last biggest one, so I hopefully want to continue that on. There’s a big scouting network in Ireland, there’s a lot of good talent and United have seen that throughout the years.
“The training with the senior squad has given me a bit of confidence — that I am improving and it is being seen — so it’s definitely a good thing for me.”
A versatile defender, O’Connor started at left-back this afternoon as United booked their place in the last 16 of the Uefa Youth League with a 6-2 win against Young Boys.
He was the captain of Ireland U19 team that advanced to the elite qualifying round for next year’s European Championships with wins over Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Faroe Islands last month.
O’Connor reflected positively on his recent graduation to the senior set-up, adding that he’s keen on further involvement with a side that’s now under the stewardship of Mick McCarthy.
“It was a great experience to be around the first team and see how things are done at the highest level. I just hope that I can push on in that squad in the future,” he said.
“We’ve had a good year for my age at international level so there are a few very good players and it’s nice to see we’re being recognised. I’m sure there will be a few others joining me.
“All you want to do when you grow up is get involved in the [Ireland] senior set-up so we’re seeing there is a pathway, not for just me but for all the younger boys coming through. You can see that it’s there.
“It was good. They’re all very good players and very good professionals so every training session was flat out, 100%. It was a good learning experience for me.
“I’ve had a lot of texts from the staff I worked with in the younger age groups and I’m very thankful to them for the work they’ve done with me on the way up. And then obviously I’m grateful to the senior set-up who made me feel welcome when I came in.”
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