Nottingham Forest Director of Professional Development Gary Brazil waxed lyrical about Dale Taylor on Twitter on Friday evening.

The 17-year-old livewire made his debut for Northern Ireland in their 1-0 win over Lithuania on Friday and earned his first minutes in senior football as a result. With the likes of Brennan Johnson and Alex Mighten thriving out of the club's youth setup in recent years, Taylor will want to follow in their footsteps and further enhance the reputation of the academy.

Brazil wrote: "Couldn’t be happier for Dale Taylor and his family. Wonderful moment for them. Both Linfield and Nottingham Forest should be very proud. Big career ahead for Dale if he continues to work hard. Everything about his character says he will."

Taylor was most likely fast tracked into the Northern Ireland setup because of his age but his impact substitute appearance seems to have struck the right note with the nation's supporters. It will be interesting to see if the youngster earns any involvement when European Champions Italy come to Windsor Park in the final match of the World Cup qualifying campaign.

The next move for Taylor would typically be to embark on a loan move away from the City Ground.

The Verdict

 

 

In Ali McCann, Shayne Lavery, Conor Bradley, Ethan Galbraith and now Dale Taylor there is an intriguing crop of Northern Ireland youngsters looking to make an impact on the international stage. Four of those five are currently playing in the Football League, Forest will be carefully considering their development of Taylor in the medium to long term as he gains admirers for his country.

Nottingham Forest have a lot of depth in attacking areas, however there is an argument that Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor are a little too similar and like for like. Dale Taylor could provide a wildcard selection to impact games for the Reds if he is not loaned out in January.