Defender has impressed on the international stage recently
Town right back Conor McLaughlin received the George Best breakthrough award at a ceremony in his native Northern Ireland on Monday evening.The award caps off a memorable year for the defender, who has impressed on the international stage in what has been a good start to qualifying for Michael O’Neill’s men.
There was no time to celebrate for McLaughlin though as he reported back to training with the Cod Army this morning.
He said: “I’ve won the award for the matches I’ve been playing for Northern Ireland recently, and it was a proud moment for me and my family.
“I had my Mum and Dad there as well as my girlfriend, so it was nice to win it in front of them.
“To win and award with George Best’s name on it is special to me.
“The awards didn’t finish until late last night so I flew back early this morning to training for a double session.”
McLaughlin admits Sunday’s league fixture against Bristol City will be a tough challenge for the players, but one he feels they can rise to.
“Sunday’s going to be a tough game for us, but we gave them a really good game at home and managed to peg it back to three each.
“They’re top of the table for a reason because they’ve got a very strong squad, but on our day we can play well against the big teams and get good results.
“Last Saturday was a big three points for us especially after losing to Oldham, and we just needed to get back to basics and focus on our game.”