LINFIELD’S MICHAEL O’CONNOR is currently on trial with Scottish team Hibernian, the club have confirmed.
The 21-year-old former Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers striker is currently on the books at Linfield, though he spent part of this season on loan in the League of Ireland with Waterford.
The Ireland underage international was picked today in the starting XI for a Hibs development squad in a game with Celtic.
The Edinburgh-based outfit have endured a difficult start to the season — they currently sit third from bottom in the Scottish Premiership table on nine points, and it was confirmed yesterday that manager Paul Heckingbottom has been sacked.
With just 12 goals scored in their opening 11 games, the side have struggled to score this season, and they may now turn to O’Connor as a potential solution to their problems.
The Dundalk native previously hit headlines last December, amid reports he was set to switch international allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to the North.
However, he since dismissed these claims, telling The42 in April: “I was never going to change, I played underage all the way up and I was never going to change my mind.
“I’m from the Republic and that’s who I want to represent. It was just blown up to say that I wanted to declare for Northern Ireland.”
🆕| Here’s how the Development Squad line up for today’s game against Celtic at HTC, with Linfield striker Michael O’Connor granted permission to feature as our ‘trialist’.
— Hibernian FC (@HibernianFC) November 5, 2019
The game kicks off at 1.45pm. pic.twitter.com/fqtPt9QRRh
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