Burton Albion loanee Alex Bannon can't wait to challenge for trophies with Derry City

The versatile 21 year-old joins on a 12 month loan deal from Burton Albion and is keen to get involved in some high stakes games for the Candy Stripes.

He's a product of Queens Park's academy having joined the Scottish Championship outfit at the age of nine and racked up to 50 appearances with the club. During the 2023/34 campaign with the ‘Spiders’ Bannon was involved in a relegation scrap before making his move to Burton mid-season.

At Burton and subsequently during his recent loan deal with Airdrie, he was again involved with teams who managed to steer their way out of trouble at the bottom of their respective leagues. He played 16 times last season with Airdrie who cemented their place in the Championship via the play-offs.

Fed up with great escapes, the talented defender is now excited about helping Derry City challenge at the top end of the table.

"I've done my homework and I've watched quite a few games since I've known about this and I would say it's a step up from the Scottish Championship, especially with the target of going for Europe and playing against some really top teams," he said.

"It does definitely have a different effect on a lot of the games, there's a lot riding on the outcome which puts a lot of pressure on players and I want to be playing in those high pressure moments.

"That's what you want when you're younger, getting experience like that. Although I enjoyed my time at Airdrie, I thought it was great and I did a lot with the club, helping keep them in the league but I want to be at the opposite side of the table here and challenging for the title and for trophies.

"In my first ever season as a pro when I was at Queens Park we challenged for the title and that was my first ever experience as a pro and it was quite a shock. I wasn't as involved in that but it was still an experience for me.

"Since then I've just been in relegation battles. One of my friends actually said to me 'you've gone three seasons and avoided relegation in three seasons' which is a big thing. I really do want to be on the opposite side of the table.

"You want to win trophies as a player and challenging for Europe as well which I've obviously never experienced and it would be a massive thing for me and also the club. The club wants to be there and challenging for trophies and that's exactly why I want to be here."

Bannon has had six months out of season but, pending international clearance, he's hoping to be involved in the action as soon as possible and he's liked what he's seen so far from Tiernan Lynch's in-form side.

Given the nature of a loan deal and the competitiveness of the current squad, he knows time is of the essence if he's to make an impact on Foyleside.

"Although I've been in the off season for the past six weeks I've been trying to tick over so I can get in and get playing as quick as possible. It's obviously hard and I've never done it before - playing this type of season but 100 per cent I want to get in and make an impact as soon as possible. That's always what you want to do when you come on loan but definitely because they're midseason and challenging for trophies which is exactly what I want to be doing as well.

"I've loved it [training]. It's obviously a short period of time I've been here but the boys are brilliant. The coaching staff are excellent and I'm enjoying the people around the city as well. It's quite similar to where I was back home and it makes it feel a lot like home with a lot of familiar faces which makes it a lot easier."

Bannon will add healthy competition to the squad as he's shown he can play in midfield and across the backline. He's not overly concerned about what position he plays as long as he gains some invaluable experience during his time at the club.

“I like playing multiple positions whether that is centre back, right back or in midfield. I like to have the ball at my feet and start things off and get the ball forward as quickly as possible and into dangerous areas.”

"He's [Lynch] obviously watched a few of my games and seen the way I play. I can play in multiple positions and he knows that and knows the type of player I am where I'm not focussed on a single position.

"I am versatile and enjoy that I can play anywhere. Last season I played left centre back even though I'm predominantly right footed. So I don't mind. Wherever I am I always give 100 percent and always stick to what I’m good at which is keeping the ball on the ground and playing nice, attractive football which I've grown up always doing, trying to split the lines and do the types of things we're trying to do here at Derry City which is another reason I wanted to join.

"The way currently Derry City are playing and especially based on Friday night, the way they were playing is exactly what I want. They were playing it out from the back, comfortable on the ball and not rushing play and then splitting the lines as soon as they needed to which is exactly how I want to fit in. I know it's not always like that and you can't play like that all the time against different teams and better teams in the league but that comes with experience.

“Although I'm still young I've played a good few senior games and gained that experience. The way they want to play, not necessarily always play, is definitely a good selling point for me."

Bannon played alongside Celtic striker and former Shamrock Rovers man Johnny Kenny at Queens Park and he's educated himself on the type of league he'll now be involved in.

He reckons the profile of the League of Ireland has grown significantly in Scotland in recent years, particularly given it's been a key market for Derry City FC. Of course he also rejoins forces with Derry's recent signing Adam Frizzell who was also at Queen Park with him.

"Recently they've [Scottish players] looked at it differently. I think when I first became professional, if I'm honest I didn't really know anything about the Irish league.

" At Queens Park I played with Johnny Kenny and he's obviously told me a little bit. Recently I've spoken to Dom Thomas who has just left and I used to play with him at Queens Park. He's told me a lot as well and it's easy to have faces you know who you have played against who are in the squad here. It shows there's more people coming here wanting to try something new and that's exactly why I'm here.”

Meanwhile Derry boss, Lynch was delighted with his new capture: “He’s a young lad with plenty of senior experience under his belt. He can play in a number of different positions and someone we are looking forward to getting in and working with.

“He can play right side centre half, right wing back, right back or even as a six. He’s a very versatile lad and the big attraction to us is the number of senior games. He is someone that we definitely feel that can come in and make an impact. No one should be safe and everyone should know that when they come in on the Monday morning they have a fight on their hands.”