Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin says 16-year-old striker Ryan Oné has all the attributes to go right to the top of the game.
The teen talent has surpassed 20 first team appearances for Accies and today made the step up to the first team dressing room at New Douglas Park after hitting the milestone.
Oné, the son of former Livingston and Stranraer's striker Armand, has burst onto the scene this season and although most of his appearances have come from the bench, he has made four starts and shown plenty to keep him a regular in the squad.
He netted and started in last month's 4-0 Scottish Cup third round win over East Kilbride and also featured from the start in last week's 2-0 win over Inverness in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Rankin is a huge admirer of the former Braidhurst High School pupil, who only left school in June, and believes he can go far.
He said: "This club's tradition is to bring through kids, develop them and give them a platform to go and play.
"Ryan has certainly had that and to be involved at first team level at 16 is great for his development.
"We have to try and balance his minutes with the reserves as well so he can keep developing, but I'm really pleased with the way he is coming along.
"You forget, because he has been involved in the first team for a while now, that he isn't even 16-and-a-half yet, but he is coming along nicely.
"But I don't want to put too much pressure on the kids here.
"It's case of them coming in and finding their feet against adults. Usually the first season they are buzzing and it's all new to them, then they can get a wee bit of 'second season syndrome', where they struggle to deal with it being the norm.
"So there is a lot of development to go for Ryan, but he is very level-headed and desperate to go and play.
"The good thing for Ryan is that he has a father who has played football and will be able to nurture him along the way.
"He's fortunate in that aspect but if he can continue to develop the way he is, he has all the physical attributes to go and play at the top level."
With Oné getting the call-up to the first team dressing room, Rankin hopes that will inspire other kids at the club to push themselves.
He added: "When Ryan came in during the summer he was part of the 18s group. He only turned 16 on June 26 but he very quickly developed into being part of the first team squad.
"He's out of his comfort zone now. He goes and gets changed in the first team dressing room.
"Ryan has moved up this week so it's a good incentive for the other younger ones to try and make enough first team appearances to get in that first team dressing room.
"It's one I'm sure his colleagues in the youth changing room will give him a hard time about now he's up there now!"
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