PATRICK Kelly has a big weekend ahead as he faces the club he nearly rejoined in the summer, before Barnsley swooped in to take him, on Saturday then is due to meet up with the senior Northern Ireland squad for the first time on Sunday.
The 21-year-old midfielder spent all of last season on loan to League Two champions Donny, making 30 league appearances – half of which were off the bench – and scoring twice, while he also played eight times in cups including at Oakwell in the EFL Trophy.
Rovers were interested in signing him on loan again this summer from parent club West Ham but he chose to join Barnsley on a permanent deal.
Kelly told the Chronicle: “During the off-season, if I was going on loan, I would probably be going back there because it made the most sense from West Ham’s point of view and my point of view as well. A couple of things panned out differently over July and I decided a permanent offer would be the best for me and that’s when the Barnsley one came around.
“It will be a bit weird going back as an away player but I am looking forward to it.
“They have really good players like Owen Bailey and Harry Clifton.
“They have a very strong midfield for the league and so do we so it will be a good battle. We have had similar form, starting well and then dropping off.
“It’s a big game for us to kick on our league form before the international break.”
He added: “The first loan is quite scary. I know a lot of people’s first loans don’t go well but I loved it. It is a really good club with such good people.
“I will always have a soft spot for Doncaster. It couldn’t have gone better with the promotion.”
Kelly has been selected for Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifiers next week against Slovakia and Luxembourg by manager Michael O’Neill, who the midfielder said advised him to join Barnsley permanently in the summer instead of another loan.
He told the Chronicle: “Playing for your country is everyone’s dream when you’re growing up.
“The process starts really young in Northern Ireland, you have little camps from under nines and under tens.
“I wasn’t in it from 14 to 16 and I wanted to make a real point of getting back in.
“Thankfully I have done that.
“A couple of years ago it seemed so far away when I was playing in the league in Northern Ireland.
“But I just want to make my debut this camp, hopefully do well and stay there.”
Kelly was a ball boy at Windsor Park on the night that Northern Ireland qualified for Euro 2016 which is their only major tournament since the 1986 World Cup.
They are currently third in their group but just three points behind Slovakia and Germany so two wins could put them in contention to at least finish second and reach the UEFA play-offs next year.
Even if they finish third, they could still qualify for the play-offs because they won their Nations League group.
“I remember being a ballboy for the Greece game. Josh Magennis scored that night and he’s still in the squad.
“These are two really big games with the chance to get Northern Ireland to the World Cup. To do that would be unbelievable. We have a really good young hungry team.”
No Barnsley player has ever played at the World Cup but both Kelly and Jon Russell, who is due to go away with Jamaica, could potentially play at the 2026 edition in USA, Mexico and Canada.
Kelly said: “I was chatting with Jon about it this week, asking him what they needed to qualify. It would be unreal for him if they did.”
