Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton believes former Lurgan Blues midfielder Mark Sykes is destined to play at the highest level of English football.
Sykes, who switched allegiance from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland two years ago, joined Championship club Bristol City from Oxford United last week.
And Hamilton says the talented 24-year-old, who left Glenavon for League One Oxford in 2019, has the quality and character to eventually play in the Premier League.
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He told Bristol Live: “He's still young and personally I'd be very surprised if he doesn't go on to play in the Premier League at some level in the future.
“He's a player that will excite people, he has confidence in himself and he has the ability to make things happen in the final third. He's also started to add the goals to his name.
“The ability he has is frightening and if he keeps his feet on the ground, he'll end up playing in the Premier League at some stage. He’ll only get better.”
Hamilton believes playing in the Irish League as a teenager helped prepare Sykes for the challenge of acclimatising to the rigours of full-time football in England.
The technically gifted midfielder took time to settle but emerged as a key player at Oxford, scoring eight goals and providing eight assists last season.
"Players like Stuart Dallas and Gareth McAuley played in our league and Sykes is probably similar to those lads,” said Hamilton.
“They were grounded in the Irish League and it took them a couple of years at League Two and League One level to find the physical side and the fitness side.
“They then moved up to the Championship and Premier League with Leeds and West Brom and for me, Sykes has every bit as much talent as both of them.
"We all know he'll have to be injury-free but if he does that there's no reason he can't make it at the top level.”
Hamilton is confident Sykes, who made 133 appearances for Glenavon, won’t be fazed by the physical and mental demands of the Championship next season.
He said: “He doesn’t carry much weight but there’s no way anyone will bully him or kick him off the pitch because he's a tough kid and that comes from playing in the Irish League.
“You won't get protected here as much but all those things have stood him in good stead. He learned his trade in a tough league.”
Sykes, who played for Northern Ireland at U21 level, made a decision to pursue an international career with the Republic of Ireland in 2020.
He was recently called into Stephen Kenny’s senior squad for recent friendly fixtures with Belgium and Lithuania, but has yet to make his debut.
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