THERE are few better stadiums than Villa Park to prove the adage that if you are good enough, you are old enough.

And when 18-year-old rookie midfielder Chris McCann set foot on Premiership soil earlier this week, he came up with a mature performance that underlined Burnley manager Steve Cotterill's faith in the young Irishman.

It's hard to believe that the Dubliner was still playing youth team football last season, before being invited on the club's pre-season trip to Austria to gain a valuable insight into first team affairs.

Yet just a few months later, that experience has widened to eight first team appearances, a first senior goal and now catching the eye against a Premiership side in their own back yard.

Cotterill was fulsome in his praise, insisting: "I thought Chris was excellent going in there. Before this season began he hadn't kicked a ball for us and he was still playing in the youth team, so he's been a big bonus."

And it's not just those charged with measuring McCann's progress who have been mightily impressed.

Clarets midfield terrier James O'Connor has almost 300 career appearances behind him, including spells at previous clubs Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.

And he believes his fellow Dubliner can go all the way so long as he keeps his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds.

"Chris has a great chance. He just needs to be nurtured along and I think he will be a great player," insisted O'Connor. "He is level headed enough and the manager is playing it perfectly by giving him just the right amount of exposure and first team football he needs to learn.

"So playing against a Premiership team was fantastic experience for an 18-year-old kid and playing so well shows he is more than happy in that company.

"He is well looked after by the Irish lads in the dressing room too. You would obviously look out for an English lad too, but coming from Dublin you have a tendency to make sure he's all right and he certainly gets encouragement from his countrymen in the dressing room."

O'Connor, 26, added: "Chris has a good left foot and when you have that I think you always look that bit more cultured.

"I don't know why that is, but you find it a lot with left-footed players and I just think it's because there maybe aren't too many of them around in the game.

"I was asking recently if he was getting involved with the Irish set up back home, but I think the fact he is involved in the first team now means the gaffer doesn't really want him going home playing under 18s and 19s.

"I genuinely think he has a hell of a chance and if he can develop his upper body he will be some player, that's for sure."