16-year-old defender Niall Dunn could “hold his own” if sent out to play for Phoenix Rising in competitive games, according to first team player James Musa.

Dunn signed an Academy Contract with the club on Monday, which allows him to feature for the first team while maintaining his college eligibility.

“For a boy to step into a men’s game here, I think it’s a bit of an eye opener,” Musa said. “But for Niall, he’s come in, he fits in seamlessly. You wouldn’t really know he’s 16 apart from his size.

“He’s confident. No occasion really gets the best of him. I think he’s got his head down, he’s tried to learn, he’s tried to improve and I think he’s going to be a player to watch over the next kind of five or six years to see how he progresses.”

That sentiment was repeated by first team assistant coach Danny Stone, who stated that he would have “no reservation” about Dunn’s ability to step up at any given moment.

“If he was selected at any moment for a professional USL Championship game coming up, he would be more than capable of stepping up to that from a quality point of view, from an ability point of view and also from a maturity and a composure to be able to compete at that level,” Stone said.

The young defender has trained with the first team throughout the preseason, and featured in both Sun Cup matches against MLS opposition.

“I think he’s shown through preseason that he has a good head on his shoulders, and a composed nature about him and a quality about him as a player,” Stone said. “He’s shown that [he]’s more than capable of competing and playing at that level should he be asked to.”

Now Dunn, who lined up alongside Musa in Saturday’s preseason finale against FC Tucson, could be set to do so again at some stage in 2021.

“I think if you had to play him a league game, I don’t think you’d be worried,” Musa added. “I don’t think you’d be ‘oh, 16, I don’t know if he can handle it.’ I think he’d go out there and hold his own. I think that’s a major positive for him. All he has to do is keep learning and keep going and he might get some game time this year, you never know.”

Rising opens its season on Friday 30 April against San Diego Loyal at its new Wild Horse Pass stadium.