Last Chance Saloon to prosper at Well

completely different from youth football.

“It is not easy. There are times when you wonder whether you will get to the higher level you thought you were heading to.

“But you have to try and drag yourself through.

“A lot of people said to me at the time that I was in Last Chance Saloon – but I never thought it myself.

“I have always been confident I had ability to play at the highest level, so that helped me.”

What has also helped is his relationship with Robinson.

“I’ve known the manager since I was 15, when he was my Under-16s manager for Northern Ireland,” said Donnelly.

“He was also in charge of the Under-21s and gave me my debut at that level when I was 16.

“I got my first full cap against Chile off the back of that FA Youth Cup run with Fulham.

“I probably didn’t merit that cap, and if it was now I probably wouldn’t get the chance. At the same time, I felt I was doing really well.

“The Youth Cup run, captaining Fulham, getting the cap – I planned to go back to my club and break into the first-team.

“But for the injury, who knows what might have happened. I do look back and wonder what might have been.

“I try to block it out because things could have been a lot different.

“I didn’t really have a break that pre-season. I had two weeks off before a very tough German pre-season with the first-team under Felix Magath.

“He’s made a name for himself for being a hard taskmaster.

“I was young and hadn’t had any proper time off. I ended up needing an operation, but I’d been out for three months, trying to manage it manually. “It wasn’t dealt with properly. I should have had the operation earlier.

“I felt the injury straight away, but had probably felt it while I was away with Northern Ireland.

“In pre-season, it blew up and I could barely walk.

“I won’t name any names, but a senior member of the medical team told me not to show the manager any weakness.

“That was the mentality, but I could barely jog around the pitch. “Your career can hinge on moments like that but these things happen.

“Now I have to try and look forwards instead of backwards.”