Manager Matt Taylor on the chances of young Ciaran McGuckin becoming a Rotherham United regular

The 19-year-old attacker, who has already had a taste of Championship action off the Millers' bench this season raised his profile during the international break with two goals in two games for Northern Ireland Under-21s.

The Leeds-born youngster performed so well for his adopted country that he received a glowing recommendation from the chief of the Irish side, Tommy Wright.

Wright isn't the only boss to be impressed, with Taylor also among the player's admirers.

“We can see a player there for the first team in the future,” the Rotherham man said. “I spoke to Ireland's manager and he spoke really highly of him.

“Full credit to Ciaran, it's been a really positive couple of games for him. For him to get that international recognition, alongside goals on top of it, is brilliant.”

The plan is for the academy product to go out on a non-league loan to gain more senior experience and National League Rochdale have been among the teams to express an interest.

However, the number of injuries in the Millers camp has meant McGuckin has had to remain at AESSEAL New York Stadium in the opening stages of the campaign.

“He's as frustrated as I am that we've not been able to get him a suitable loan to go out and fine-tune his skills,” Taylor said.

“It will be interesting to see how he develops in the next few months, either with ourselves or somewhere else.”

McGuckin, who has been with Rotherham since he was 14, headed the winner for the Irish in a 1-0 triumph in Azerbaijan and then converted a penalty in a 2-1 home loss to Serbia. Both goals came in Euro U-21 2025 qualifiers.

Having made his Millers debut in October 2021 in the Papa Johns Trophy, he had a successful loan at National League North Scarborough Athletic last season and this term he has made three second-tier appearances and also played twice in the Carabao Cup.