Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
He’ll be a star, Mark my words
O’NEILL TIPS SYKES FOR THE BIG TIME
NORTHERN Ireland boss Michael O’Neill says Glenavon midfielder Mark Sykes is equipped to carve out a career in England or Scotland.
Paul Smyth, Gavin Whyte and Bobby Burns have all secured cross-channel moves from Irish League clubs in the past 12 months.
Smyth joined QPR from Linfield last August while Burns and Whyte (below) recently moved to Hearts and Oxford United from Glenavon and Crusaders respectively.
Sykes is awaiting his chance and O’Neill suspects it’s only a matter of time before the Northern Ireland U21 star is picked up.
“Mark is a very talented player,” he said. “He’ll be in the U21s squad next month and he has become a player who is important to that team.
“He’s an important player at that level and hopefully the opportunity exists for him to take the next step.”
Sykes was singled out for praise by Molde boss Ole Gunnar Solksjaer after Glenavon’s recent Europa League clash with the Norwegian full-timers. The former Manchester United striker, who watched Sykes boss midfield when the Lurgan Blues won the first leg 2-1, labelled the 21-year-old a “top prospect”.
“He’s smooth,” said Solksjaer. “He has great technique and overview of the game.”
O’Neill agrees and added: “We had reports on Mark Sykes from both games against Molde, home and away, and we know that he played extremely well.
“Those are the games where people will evaluate players and he did really well.”
O’Neill says playing for Northern Ireland U21s provides a valuable shop window for Sykes who helped Glenavon to a 4-0 win over Ballymena United on Friday night.
Ian Barraclough’s side travel to face Luxembourg in a friendly on September 6, before meeting
Spain in
Albacete in a
Euro qualifier five days later.
O’Neill said:
“We’ve had Mark in the U21s under
Jim Magilton and Ian Baraclough. When Jim took the job in 2015 we talked about giving young domestic players a chance as opposed to players based in England but nowhere near the first team.
“I think we did that with the likes of Rhys Marshall, James Singleton and a lot of players involved at Irish League level.
“It’s disappointing that some didn’t want to take the opportunity but that’s an individual thing.
“The U21s team is a massive window for the players because that is where they are judged.”
Earlier this year, Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton likened Sykes to the likes of Stuart Dallas and Liam Boyce who went on to play for Northern Ireland after moves to the fulltime game.
Hamilton said: “Mark is good enough to be playing across the water. I’ve told him to keep his head down and keep producing on the pitch.”