Interview

Kane plans ahead

COLERAINE defender Lyndon Kane recaps on an ‘unbelievable experience’ as he recently started his journey to obtain a UEFA B Licence…

The full-back spent a week with the Irish Football Association at the end of May and was the youngest ever person to be involved with the UEFA B course in Belfast.

Speaking to colerainefc.com, the 22-year-old revealed he enrolled on the course as he is ‘planning ahead’ after suffering numerous foot injuries in recent years.

“It was an unbelievable experience and to be honest I was a little bit nervous about going, but I’m glad that I went and done it now,” he said.

“It’s a long week with a lot of information to take in but it was great to see the game in such a different manner and learn so many new things to take forward.

“I was the youngest on the course and to be honest there are not many people who do it so young, but the reason I have taken the course at my age is due to my injuries, so I’m just trying to plan ahead.

“However after doing it, I would advise others to get them done as early as possible as it can set you up for later in your career.

“Getting into coaching is something that I’ve always seen myself doing but that was my first real experience in a coaching environment and I loved it.

“There are still more things for me to complete within the next year to get my B Licence and I’m really looking forward to getting started coaching some of the younger kids in the local area.”

Kane was joined by a host of former professional players such as ex-Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor and Liverpool idol Luis Garcia for the week-long course, and he hopes to pick up advice from the former Premier League duo.

“For me, at the start, I was a little bit star struck seeing a lot of these professionals walking in,” he added.

“Although over the course of the week you get to know so much about them and they are great people and hopefully I’ll be able to stay in contact with them now for years to come and maybe pick up different bits of advice from them.

“It was crazy that a couple of nights we sat in the hotel bar and you are having a drink with Luis Garcia and talking to him about his career and his spell at Liverpool – which for me as a Liverpool fan was amazing – I honestly could’ve sat all night and listened to the stories he had.”

Whilst Lyndon is getting his stock in order off the pitch, the former Northern Ireland youth international is hoping to be involved in pre-season action ahead of the 2019-20 season.

“Things are going well, I’ve started my own running and pre-season starts in a week and a half from now and by that stage, I hope to be involved in the majority of the sessions when it does come around,” he concluded.

“We have no dates in mind at all for return, it’s all about just listening to the foot and taking each session at a time to make sure there is no reaction from the previous session.

“I would love to be back firing for the new season but only time will tell.

“If everything goes to plan then hopefully that can be achievable for me as I’m itching to get back playing.”