Paisley Daily Express

CAOLANIS NEXTLEVEL PROSPECT

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- COLIN PATERSON

SAINTS ASSISTANT BOSS HAILS RISING STAR

Diarmuid O’Carroll has tipped Caolan BoydMunce to rise to the top for club and country. The St Mirren assistant manager combines that role with his job as assistant coach for Northern Ireland. And that means he works at close quarters with Boyd-Munce every day. The pair, along with fellow Buddie Conor McMenamin, were away during the internatio­nal break as the green-andwhite army drew with Romania then beat Scotland a t but confidence from the fact that in training and every day, you could look at him and go, well, he’s a very good player.

“He can play at this level with no problem.”

Boyd-Munce has been a stand-out since the turn of the year and O’Carroll believes he has the quality to become a top Premiershi­p player.

“I think he’s got potential to be one of the best midfielder­s in the league,” he said.

“He hasn’t done it yet, and he’ll say that himself, but he’s so young. He’s 24 but he’s only really 21 because he’s only in his first 50 games as a pro.

“When Ethan Erhahon left here at 21, he’d played 120 games, and Caolan’s played 40.

“He’s going to still be making errors but I think over the last two or three months, we’ve seen his level drasticall­y rise.

“I’ve personally seen it from being in the internatio­nal camp in November to then being in the internatio­nal camp in March. He’s flying.

“He’s only on one trajectory and will keep going.

“He listens and is very coachable so I’ve full hope that he’ll kick on and put on a bit of a show for us in the next few games.”

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