Barnsley gaffer Michael Duff has lauded former Celtic prodigy Luca Connell for his conduct at Oakwell - tipping the Republic of Ireland international to become a captain at some point in his career.
Connell, born in Liverpool, joined Celtic at the age of 18 from Bolton Wanderers having already made over 10 apperances for the Greater Manchester outfit. Being tipped to break into the first-team, Connell never quite hit the heights expected of him at Celtic Park, instead spending two seasons on loan at Queen's Park before leaving on a free transfer to Barnsley in the summer.
But he is a man reborn in South Yorkshire - with 30 league appearances for the Tykes, he has been a crucial part of their promotion push which has seen them win 16 of their last 21 league games to fly ahead of other play-off contenders and mount a real challenge for an immediate return to the Championship.
Duff, who made his name as a player at Burnley, would be heralded as a Tykes legend should he get them promoted to the second tier at the first time of asking. And when quizzed on Connell, he didn't hold up in his praise for the formerly mop-headed youngster, tipping him to become a captain in the future.
"He's an unbelievable kid," Duff said via the Yorkshire Post. "You forget he's 21 years-old.
"I didn't know anything about him. I got introduced to him when we signed him a week in and you could see very quickly he could play.
"He'll definitely be a captain of a football club at some point in his career the way he drives it.
"His ability and his performances are there but the way he drives it and carries himself, the way he puts demands on other people, he'll be a captain somewhere along the line.
"I spoke to Callum Wright at Plymouth, who I had at Cheltenham. They're good mates and grew up together and he said similar things.
"There's things he can improve – he can open up better on one side and things like that – but his level of performance for such a young lad in a pivotal position on the pitch... it's generally experienced players there and that's one thing he isn't.
"It's almost been seamless and he's understood it. If there was a player of the year I'd imagine he'd be in the top three or four."
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