Jamie Donley: Stephen Craigan ‘excited’ by youngster’s imminent Northern Ireland switch
Craigan doesn’t believe Donley will need a lot of persuasion to turn allegiance to the Northern Ireland side, as the fall won the National League promotion.
“When a team wins the game and gets some positive publicity and builds momentum, you probably don’t have to do a lot of compelling things,” he said.
“Anyone you talk to, they talk about the vitality and solidarity around the team. When you bring so many young players together, you get excited and you want to grow together.”
With Ronan Hale also going to introduce himself to the senior team in Northern Ireland for the first time after he switched allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, Craigan believes there is a good factor for O’Neill’s team at the moment.
He added: “When you watch their training and watch them watch their games in the game, you feel like there is some building, something brewed.”
“If you’re a young player, you think ‘I don’t mind being part of that group’, I think that’s why people like Ronan Hale and Jamie Donley come.”
Although next week’s game is a friendly match, Craigan believes O’Neill and his players can learn “huge” from them.
“We’re in the National League. We’ve already played, we’ve won our group stages, but you want to test your own game. That’s how you learn as a player and as a group, that’s how Michael will learn as a manager. He’s going to draw a lot from those two games.”
