"The easy part is getting in, but the hardest part is staying in and doing well," Paddy Kelly said. The 21-year-old has become a key figure for Barnsley, has played every game so far this season and is now vice-captain there. His time on the pitch has also taken him to four caps for Northern Ireland, after three years at West Ham United and a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers.

Barnsley minutes and the international step up

Kelly's own view is that the club rhythm has driven the jump. "It's been massive for me [playing regularly] and same last season as it probably led to me getting called up here," he said, and that fits the route he has taken in league football. He made his Northern Ireland debut in last November's 1-0 win over Luxembourg and scored his first international goal in the 3-1 defeat by France in Lille in June.

Barnsley have not been smooth either. Their last five results read W-W-L-W-L, they have scored seven goals in that run and conceded 12, which puts Kelly's week-to-week minutes in a team that has been forced to keep competing through uneven form. That is a tougher environment than a quiet run of wins, and it probably helps explain why his club role has translated cleanly onto the international stage.

Northern Ireland's Nations League schedule

The next test arrives quickly. Northern Ireland begin the Nations League campaign on Friday against Georgia at 17:00 BST, then host Hungary at Windsor Park on Monday, 28 September. They play Ukraine in Trnava, Slovakia on Friday, 2 October before the return fixture against Georgia on Monday, 5 October.

Kelly sounds comfortable with that rhythm. He said it would be good to experience the new international schedule for the first time, and added that many of the squad are used to playing every three days at club level. With Michael O'Neill's side carrying an average age of 24, the workload is likely to fall on players who already know how to manage it. The harder part for Kelly is not getting into the squad. It is staying there when the games come quickly.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →