Dara O'Shea during Ireland U21 training earlier this year. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy That was drilled into me from a young age. “I came in knowing I would have an opportunity [with the new manager] and to try hit the ground running,” he explains.He has maintained the work rate, and discipline. I remember him talking about how other boys would be counting the days to coming home, but he always had it in his head that he needed to get through that, in order to become a footballer.”Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our “Dara never got homesick. Access exclusive podcasts, interviews and analysis with a IT IS THE day before West Bromwich Albion travel to face Derby County – a game they will draw 1-1 – and 20-year-old centre-back Dara O’Shea is moving.Not back to Exeter City, where he spent last season on loan in League Two, but just a few yards down the hall at the club’s training ground from the U23 dressing room to join his new peers in the first team.It’s taken four games as an unused substitute in each of their Championship outings until this point for the Dubliner to earn the promotion. It was a day to remember for Dara O'Shea as the young West Brom defender made his league debut against Brentford. Egyptian international Ahmed Hegazi sits with a teammate having a late breakfast by a window looking out at a training pitch.The defender is continuing his recovery from ankle surgery over the summer and, in his absence, O’Shea has overtaken others who were deemed to be ahead of him in the queue to step up as an understudy.Unlike some of the more vaunted local stars coming through the ranks at the club, the former St Kevin’s Boys schoolboy hasn’t got a boot deal. It’s kind of cool to be lazy and all that but Dara is, like a few of them, they are all good boys but for young kids. “We can count on him,” Bilic continues, citing O’Shea’s reliability as a reason why he did not try and recruit another defender.“Unfortunately, in today’s world it is not a virtue, it’s a flaw if you are focused, if you are fit, if you work hard.

“He doesn’t do losing; he absolutely hates it,” Eddie Gormley, his former youth coach with Cabo’, says. The 20-year-old centre-half … The youngster, who only turned 20 in March, is first through the door almost every morning and one of the last to leave.James McClean was a confidant while he was a team-mate here. O'Shea during Ireland's U21 qualifier vs Luxembourg in March. New arrival, Wayne Rooney, has been won over, too, likening Knight’s aggression and competitive spirt to when he was making his way in the game. Whatever you tell him, he is there. They are old-fashioned in a good way and that is the key for a young player.”Bilic was a similar age to O’Shea when he made the breakthrough at Hadjuk Split 30 years ago, and he also saw an 18-year-old Richard Dunne up close when the pair were together at Everton in the late 1990s.“A lot of things you don’t have to tell him. “What can I say about him? When reps from Nike and Adidas visit regularly to hand out the goods it has taken the initiative of staff to make sure the O’Shea gets looked after.His sole taste of first-team action came in the EFL Cup defeat to Millwall earlier this month, but he has made quite the impression on new manager Slaven Bilic.O’Shea was offered an extra week off by the club following his participation in the Toulon Tournament with Ireland’s U21s but refused it. His spell at Exter City, last term, really caught the eye and the lessons learned have stayed with him. Choreographer Dara O’Shea Delap will come out of retirement to make a guest appearance on the show, and she may even encounter some friendly competition in … Not in football; in every way of life. Nicky Butt was his coach for the numerous trips he made over to Manchester, as well as tournaments elsewhere, but when it came to offering him a contract, the Old Trafford club opted, instead, for young Dutch prospect, Timothy Fosu-Mensah.“Dara was a United fan growing up, but that didn’t dishearten him at all,” his father says.O’Shea was able to settle at West Brom, mostly because the family he insisted on staying with were so understanding.“It was Chris Wood’s parents,” Sean says. This is YOUR comments community. Every chance I get I want to try and impress, I’m hungry to play minutes,” he says, having been beckoned by fellow Dubliner, kitman Aidan ‘Jacko’ Smith, just before he must attend a team meeting prior to training.The first-team canteen is pretty quiet before that 11.30am gathering. Users are reminded that they are fully responsible for their own created content and their own posts, comments and submissions and fully and effectively warrant and indemnify Journal Media in relation to such content and their ability to make such content, posts, comments and submissions available. “Dara was a United fan growing up, but that didn’t dishearten him at all,” his father says.