Sunderland defender Dan Ballard has come in for praise while away on international duty

Northern Ireland national boss Michael O’Neill has hailed Sunderland defender Dan Ballard for the manner with which he has stuck to his dream of playing in the Premier League.

The centre-back started his career at Arsenal, but never made a first team appearance for the Gunners, and had to drop down the divisions - initially with loan spells at Blackpool and Millwall, and then with a permanent move to Wearside - to seek out regular senior minutes.

Now, at the age of 26, Ballard’s application has finally been rewarded with a long-awaited step up to the top flight, and he has caught the eye with a series of impressive displays in the wake of Sunderland’s promotion this summer.

At international level, Ballard continues to go from strength to strength too, and at the time of writing, has amassed 31 caps for a Northern Irish side that boasts an array of exciting young talent, and that harbours genuine hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

What has Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said about Sunderland defender Dan Ballard?

And speaking in a press conference prior to Friday evening’s 2-0 win over Slovakia, national team head coach O’Neill was quick to praise Ballard for his admirable career progression - and the way in which he has achieved it.

As quoted by the Belfast News Letter, he said: "It's a great story because Daniel epitomises how you should react to disappointment in football. He obviously had the disappointment at Arsenal but his reaction to that and how he's played his way up through from Blackpool and Millwall on loan and then to Sunderland. We thought about buying him at Stoke but he was too expensive for us at that time so we weren't able to do that deal.

"The most important thing is that you have belief in yourself that you can get to that level and Daniel has had that. We have players at the minute who are out on loan and are on a similar journey and it's not all plain sailing. The loan doesn't always go well and Daniel would have had up and down periods in his loans as well, so I think it's great to see him get to this level - he deserves it.

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“So sometimes I think maybe when you play through the leagues you really appreciate that you're now in the Premier League and you're not going to let it slip because you've seen the other side of the game.”

Friday night also represented a notable milestone for Ballard’s Sunderland teammate Trai Hume, with the full-back notching his first ever senior international goal. The 23-year-old capitalised on some suspect defending to volley home a looping effort from outside the box in the 81st minute, wrapping up all three points in the process.

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