'He has a wee bit of Steve Davis about him' - Former Manchester United midfielder hailed as 'fantastic footballer' after impressive Northern Ireland display

Healy and Magilton watched Galbraith come through the youth ranks at Northern Ireland and Linfield before sealing his switch to Premier League giants United in 2017.

Glengormley native Galbraith made his senior debut in a Europa League clash against Astana in November 2019 but never registered a league appearance, spending time on loan at Doncaster Rovers and Salford City while at Old Trafford.

A permanent move to Leyton Orient has helped bring the best out of Galbraith, who has been a star performer in League One this season, scoring five times and providing a further five assists, including three in one match in last month’s win over Lincoln City.

Orient boss Richie Wellens has previously hailed Galbraith as a “Premier League player in the making” and he had Championship admirers during the recent transfer window with Swansea City reportedly tabling a £1million bid which was rejected.

Earning his fifth senior international cap at Windsor Park on Friday night, Galbraith was amongst Northern Ireland’s top performers and earned plaudits from both Healy and Magilton, who were working at the match as BBC pundits.

"Knowing him from he was 14 or 15, he has a wee bit of Steve Davis about him,” said Healy. “He sees the picture, can handle the ball and part of his development at Man United would have been dealing with the ball.

"When he lands on the ball, physically he isn't 100% there just yet, but he sees clever passes, uses his body well...there were one or two of his performances I'm sure Northern Ireland supporters would have seen at U21 level which were exceptional.”

Current Cliftonville boss Magilton spent seven years as Elite Performance Director at the Irish Football Association, masterminding the Club NI programme which helped aid the development of players like Galbraith.

Labelled as “our little Iniesta or Xavi” by former Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough, hopes have always been high that Galbraith could deliver on the international stage and Magilton is a huge believer in his ability.

"He's magical, I've always been a huge fan,” said Magilton. “David and I watched him growing up at underage groups and he was this magnificent young player with so much technical ability.

"When you go to a club like Manchester United, sometimes you can get eaten up, but to see him now on the international stage and to have the confidence to go and do what he's doing, he's a fantastic footballer.

"Technically he is as good as I've ever been around in terms of the young boys and he's starting to develop into a top class player."