Ryan Connolly is a young attacking midfielder who spent two years in the academy at Derby County before signing professional forms in the summer of 2010.

Ryan is a left-sided player who progressed in the U18s and reserves before being given his first-team debut on the final day of 2009-10 when he came on as a late substitute against Cardiff City.

He went on to take the Rams' Scholar of the Year award. Ryan has been capped by the Republic of Ireland at U17 level and went on to make his U19 international debut against Ukraine in August 2010.

A few days later he suffered a knee injury in an U18 friendly game for the Rams and was out of action until the closing weeks of the season.

Ryan finally made his comeback appearance in early May when he came off the bench in the final reserve game of 2010-11.