Squad Profiles - Senior

THERE'S no doubting Keith Gillespie is one of the stars of the Northern Ireland team.

The Larne born winger first burst onto the scene as far back as 1994 as a fresh faced 19-year-old making a name for himself with a memorable strike against Austria in only his second game although.

With such a promising start coupled with the occasional appearance (and goal) for Manchester United - and a place in their now legendary Youth Cup winning side alongside Beckham, Scholes and Giggs - it was perhaps no surprise that Gillespie was soon hailed as 'the next George Best'.

It was an unfair tag to put on the player but, to his credit, he has never really let it affect him.

His career really took off in January 1995 when he signed for Newcastle United amid a blaze of publicity in a deal which included Andy Cole moving in the opposite direction.

Undoubtedly his greatest moment for the Toon Army was the Champions League game against Barcelona in which he came off the bench to set up two goals for Faustino Asprilla.

Another change of club in December 1998 brought a switch to Blackburn Rovers. During his time there he helped them to promotion back to the Premiership and picked up a Worthington Cup winners medal along the way.

He left Rovers in the summer of 2003 for Leicester City where he stayed for two seasons at the Walkers Stadium. In August 2005 he moved to Sheffield United.

Internationally he picked up his 50th cap in the October 2004 defeat in Greece. That game turned out to be Sammy McIlroy's last in charge but Keith, still only 31, has plenty of football left in him yet and has, indeed, continued to feature regularly under Lawrie Sanchez.