Andy Lyons describes Ireland's next big thing Evan Ferguson as "an animal" having marvelled at the Brighton starlet's rapid development.
Lyons, 21, and 17-year-old Ferguson will be part of the Ireland under-21s mission to take three points from their clash away to Sweden on Monday and keep themselves in the European Championship qualifying mix.
But they first played first team football together at Bohemians when Ferguson became the youngest player in the club's history when he made his League debut against Derry in September 2019.
“It’s a bit of a weird one because I was playing with him when he was only 14," said Lyons.
"That’s a bit mad to say because he’s so young.
"I remember his debut, we played against Derry away, he was only 14 and was holding off centre-backs. It was unbelievable to watch."
Ferguson moved to Brighton last August and the hugely talented teenager has already made his first team debut for the Premier League club, first in the EFL and FA Cup before he made his League bow in the 3-0 loss to Burnley last month.
“He’s a very level-headed guy, very humble, which is a great attribute to have," said Lyons, who moved on from Dalymount Park more recently.
"I kind of knew the path he was going on and catching up with him with the 21s, he’s got even stronger and more physical and that’s a bit mad to say because even when he was 14 he was extremely strong, holding off defenders.
"It’s great to see his development and, again, look, he’s still only 17, he’s so very young and has a lot of development in him. He’s certainly a great talent.
“You can see, if you just search up on any social media platform, his finishing is incredible.
"I don’t think I’ve seen a better finisher since I’ve been playing, not that that’s been a long time. But his finishing is unbelievable and his hold-up play is great as well so he has many attributes apart from his strength at a young age.
"He’s certainly much stronger than me. He’s an animal. He’s very strong, It’s a great thing to have, and he certainly uses it on the pitch."
Lyons made headlines of his own by making the move from Bohs to bitter rivals Shamrock Rovers in the close season.
The left-back played in the Gypsies side that lost the FAI Cup final to St Pat's last November before joining the Hoops.
"It's been a bit mad, to be honest," said the Naas man. "We played the Cup final and then obviously the move to Rovers came about, and it was straight into Rovers then, into full-time football.
"The first few weeks it was just getting used to getting up early, getting yourself ready for training in the mornings and then obviously working out your schedule and routine for after training as opposed to training at night.
"That was probably the biggest difference, the time difference, but after a few weeks you get used to it and I'm fully in my stride now and enjoying it."
Lyons was entering a dressing-room filled with players who had won the Premier Division title back to back in the last two seasons, and expected to push hard for the three-in-a-row.
“Yeah, it’s certainly different," he said. "Obviously the expectancy is one big thing I noticed, walking into a dressing room where I’m probably the only person who hasn’t won a league title because Jack (Byrne) came back having won one there before.
“That mental shift of expectancy...the expectancy to win games, every game you play, you’re expected to win - dealing with that pressure is a big difference.
"That was one mental shift I found when I walked into the dressing room."
He has also had to deal with the unexpected scenario of Stephen Bradley's side already losing twice this term.
“We’re trusting the process," he said. "If you watch the games, the Derry game was very even, it was very much a game in two halves.
"Unfortunately, a mistake in the last minute, we lost the game. Against St Pat’s we were probably the better side, we played good football, and they won it with a set-piece goal.
“But we believe if we’re playing with a standard of football, putting in good performances, the results will come with it.
"Against Sligo the other day (a 2-2 draw), we put in a really good performance and the stats kind of show that - it was 27 shots to four or five.
"Obviously they were clinical. We have the faith and the belief in the group that if we put in the performances the results will come."
Lyons is taking a different view of games, too, given that despite his young age he has just started the task of getting his coaching badges.
“I started my UEFA B licence the other day," he said. "We’re doing online modules at night so that obviously helps me as well, training in the mornings, that I can then do them.
“There's obviously a big shift (to full-time football) but it just gives me that freedom of doing extra bits in the morning and then having the rest of the evening free.
“I’ve only just done one module on Monday. It’s probably looking at the game from a different perspective, which is interesting.
"As a player, you’re looking at it through a player’s lens. With a coach, it’s from a different perspective and you’re analysing games in a different way.
“If I play a game, I’m mostly analysing my performance at right-back or right wing-back, wherever it may be, whereas as a coach you’re analysing the whole thing, maybe different positions you haven’t touched on or been involved with before.
"It’s definitely different, it’s just changed the perspective really.
“I’m still young but I’d like to be a coach at some stage in my career - not any time soon, but for after football and I’m just thinking if I can get it done now, why wait five, six, seven, eight years?
"I went to a full-time environment so I have time on my hands in the evening so it was just something to do, something I’m interested in.
"I may as well do it now. There’s no better time than the present.
"Even in the last few days we’ve been analysing a few of the Irish performances, like Portugal for example.
"You’re looking at the likes of Matt Doherty and Seamus Coleman and you see different bits and pieces, but when you see it from a different perspective you see different things and can learn from them too.
"You do learn stuff and it’s interesting watching it from a different perspective. Watching people in greater detail is enjoyable.”
For now, the focus is on Sweden. Anthony Elanga played the last time out and since then has scored twice for Manchester United in the the Premier League, but the 19-year-old is named in their Swedes' senior squad for this window.
"Look, we know that they're a good side, the last game showed that," Lyons said, referring to Ireland's last-gasp 1-0 victory in Tallaght last November, a result that kept alive the hopes of Jim Crawford's side.
"Thankfully we got the win but we know what we're expecting, we're preparing this week in order to get the win and we're looking forward to that.
"It's obviously a big game in that it's second against third. We know we have quality in the squad to go and win the game.
"They're good technical players, there's a lot of first team experience within the squad. Obviously you look at Elanga, he was playing the last day and look at what he's gone on to do in the Man United first team now.
"So we know they have quality in abundance there, technical players, and we're looking forward to how we're going to deal with that. That's what we're working on on the training pitch this week.
"It's not going to be an easy game, we know that. It's going to be tough but we're ready to go."
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