Barnsley v Doncaster Rovers: Northern Ireland international Patrick Kelly on Grant McCann, golf - and ignoring his mum

The in-form midfielder hails from the north coast of Northern Ireland, which is golf country.

Most of the time when he heads home - he is from the seaside town of Portstewart in County Londonderry - he gets his clubs out for a round or two. Royal Portrush, which hosted the Open Championship in 2019 and 2025, is nearby.

When he heads back across the Irish Sea after finishing domestic business with Barnsley - who host his former club Doncaster Rovers today –later this weekend, golf will be out of bounds as he focus on international duties.

Kelly is part of the Northern Ireland squad who do battle with Italy in a World Cup play-off semi-final next Thursday. Should they progress, the final will be in Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31.

When he returns to the tee after the international hiatus, he aims to be smiling on two fronts.

By hopefully playing his part in realising the Green and White Army's North American dream after helping his club side to victory over Rovers, captained by his good mate and golfing partner Owen Bailey.

Kelly said: "It's just big golfers who are from Portstewart, pretty much. There won't be any (more) footballers, really. It's a big golf part of the world.

"I’m a member at Portstewart Golf Club. Every time I go home, I'm straight on the golf course there.

"Darren Clarke is from Portrush, just down the road, which is five minutes away and there's Graeme McDowell. They'd be probably the two biggest from around there."

In his short career to date, Kelly certainly cannot say he has been short of midfield influences.

During his time at first club West Ham, Hammers legend Mark Noble took him under his wing.

In the present, Kelly is finetuning his game under another manager who had a pretty decent career in the middle of the park in Conor Hourihane.

The 21-year-old also remains grateful for the influence of compatriot and fellow midfielder Grant McCann during his loan spell at Rovers last season when he helped the club to the League Two title.

McCann won't be particularly wanting to see evidence of his prowess today, mind.

Kelly continued: "Grant was really big for me last season. Obviously, it was my first loan and an important one.

"It was kind of a make-or-break season for me. If you go on loan and either don't play at all or struggle, you're falling down the leagues rapidly.

"Even before I kind of met him (McCann) fully, he had a big say in why I went to Doncaster.

"I had a lot of options at the start of last season to go to a lot of League Two teams and some bottom-end League One teams.

"Having spoken with my agent, he decided that Grant would be the best probably for my development that year.

"I had a really good season with him and obviously we topped that off with winning the league. He helped me massively on and off the pitch and just having chats with him as well."

Kelly has come a long way from the kid who was entitled to wonder whether he would make it after trials at Liverpool and Stoke.

Instead of the comparatively safe environment of academy football, Kelly had to cut his teeth in the NIFL Premiership - the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League - with Coleraine as a 16/17 year-old before earning his move to West Ham.

His route has been different, but rewarding.

He said: "It's been good. I definitely went a different way around it to all the other lads that come over. Normally, you come over at 16.

"But when I was 16, that's when Covid happened. So it was a bit different for me. And then I ended up staying in school and doing my A-levels for a bit and just playing part-time in the Irish League.

"Obviously, it worked out better for me. I was actually meant to go to Stoke when I was 15/16; I was going back and forward there quite a bit.

"And then with Covid, it ended up just not happening and I stayed in school. That was probably a good thing for me.

"I always had good confidence and self-belief (about forging a football career). My mum actually made a joke about it with me a couple of weeks ago. I remember having a conversation with her when I was 14 or 15 and she was trying to get me to properly knuckle down in school.

"I just said to her: 'I'm only going to play football'. And she kind of laughed at me.

"She said it's amazing that I've gone on to do that. So hopefully it can continue."