O'Connell keeping feet on the ground

Eoghan O'Connell has gone from lining out against Dayrl Horgan at Turner's Cross to facing off against Lionel Messi at the Aviva Stadium in the space of five months – and the Cork native admits he just wants to enjoy his current first-team run while it lasts.

“It has been a bit of a rise,” admitted O'Connell to media after Celtic's 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the International Champions Cup in Dublin. “That's the way football goes, it can all change very quickly. It's going well for me at the moment and I just want to enjoy it while it lasts. To play against Barca – a good level to test yourself against – I really, really enjoyed it.”

While the Bhoys only returned for pre-season training towards the end of June, O'Connell's campaign started with Cork City in the President's Cup against Dundalk last February. His deep cross from midfield allowed Sean Maguire to head home and secure a 2-0 win that day, giving City their first piece of silverware since the First Division title in 2011.

O'Connell would go on to make nine appearances in all competitions for City and netted his only goal in what turned out to be his final league appearance, the equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Galway United. A groin injury cut short his loan spell by a month in April.

Since then, Celtic have been beset by a defensive injury crisis which has seen Erik Sviatchenko, Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata all sidelined. With new signing Kolo Toure ineligible for last week's Champions League third qualifying round first-leg against Astana, O'Connell was parachuted into the starting line-up in Kazakhstan alongside the unpredictable Efe Ambrose.

That ended 1-1 and with Toure missing out against Barca as he continues to build up his fitness, O'Connell could expect to retain his place for the return leg in Parkhead. However, the Republic of Ireland underage international, who turns 21 in August, isn't getting ahead of himself by dreaming of a phone call from Martin O'Neill just yet.

“Not really, it's not really something I've thought about. It's hard to set goals like that,” replied O'Connell when asked if he wanted to win his first cap by a certain age. “I'm just trying to take it game by game, week by week, and stay fit and make sure I'm available and get that consistency that might lead to something like that. But at the moment, not really, no.

“It's still very early in the season and I'm just trying to stake a claim with the team here and trying to stick at it. That's all I'm really worried about at the moment and if anything else comes of it, it will come and I'll look at it then.

“They are big games to be involved in and it's great for me,” added the centre-back when asked about playing in the Champions League. “Wednesday was my debut in Europe and hopefully I can add to that this week and see where I go from there.”

O'Connell watched the Boys in Green compete at Euro 2016 from home and felt O'Neill's men gave a great account of themselves, particularly against Italy where he believes the expectation was higher following the defeat to Beligum. With Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady among others to make names for themselves, O'Connell was asked if that gives him hope of making the same breakthrough in the near future.

“Yeah I suppose you can look at it that way but football is always changing and you never really know what's going to happen,” he replied. “So I'll just be keeping my head down and working as hard as I can and seeing what happens, but I won't be looking too far ahead.

“People will be watching out to see how all the young lads coming through are getting on. Hopefully all will go well. You need to believe in yourself, need to be hard working, and also you need a chance. Football is strange. Things can change very quickly. Sometimes a chance comes and when it does, you are going to have to take it.”

O'Connell's Champions League appearance came on the back of an impressive performance in the 1-1 International Champions Cup draw with Premier League champions Leicester City, where he netted a stunning equaliser. And one man who has been particularly pleased with the Corkman so far is Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

“Just look at his performance tonight, I thought he was excellent,” said Rodgers after the Barcelona match. “He's come in against Leicester, a fast team, and did well, played under pressure on Wednesday night [against Astana] and came through it well.

“There's a few areas he could improve on but he's young, he'll improve. He coped very well tonight, he's very calm. What I like about Eoghan is he knows the game. Physically he can go and win headers, he can dominate, he's calm in possession.

“I think he was excellent tonight. There are good players in Ireland, there always have been, but he's ready to learn. From what I can see so far he'll do well.”