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O'Brien Profile
 
Joey OBrien, Bolton Wanderers

Joey O'Brien

Born: Dublin, Ireland, 17th February 1986

International Honours: Eire Full, U21, Youth

Position: Midfielder

Squad Number: 24

Former Clubs: Sheffield Wednesday (loan)

Hard working and productive midfielder or right full back who not afraid to get stuck in despite his relative inexperience in the game.

The young Irishman followed in the footsteps of fellow youth Academy graduates Nicky Hunt and Kevin Nolan after a successful 2004-2005 campaign which saw him debut against Yeovil Town in the Carling Cup last September.

O'Brien has been with the Bolton youth set-up for over three years but is now very much considered to be a part of the Trotters first team squad after having a successful spell out on loan with Sheffield Wednesday.

The Dubliner spent 15 games on loan at Hillsbrough over a three month period and managed to score on his football league debut against Hull City in December 2004.

There was no chance of O'Brien ever moving to Yorkshire for keeps as Sam Allardyce sees the club's former Reserve team captain as a key player for the future.

He made his Premiership debut as a substitute for El-Hadji Diouf against Everton and spent the 2005 Pre-season on tour with the first team in Japan

A sturdy performance in the hostile surroundings of the Inonu Stadium against Besiktas lead to the player establishing himself as a fully fledged member of the Bolton starting eleven and an injury to right back Nicky Hunt soonafter meant that he spent the majority of the 2005-2006 season "out of position" but he coped well in his defensive role against some of the leagues top wingers.

In March 2006 he received a shock call up into the full Irish national team for their game against Sweden. This honour coming just days after he celebrated his 20th birthday.

Sadly he missed the 2006-2007 season with a succession of knee ligament problems but manager Sammy Lee is hoping to have him back for the clubs second UEFA Cup campaign..

BOLTON RECORD: 24 appearances, 0 goals

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