David McKechnie talks to Ireland's "other" young striking sensation about character, perseverance and making an impression in the heavy shadows of Highbury

It may not be a record which Roy Castle would have trumpeted, but Brighton and Hove Albion are on the brink of making history of the worst kind this afternoon. Defeat against Bradford City at Withdean Stadium would be a club record 13th straight league reversal, further cementing their position at the bottom of the First Division.

Six more defeats in a row and they would break the overall league record of 18, set in 1898-99. It would be nothing to crow about for supporters of the ailing Seagulls.

If character and perseverance are what is required, this may be where Graham Barrett comes in. Just over two months ago, the 21-year-old Dubliner was receiving numerous slaps on the back from his Arsenal club-mates after returning from a goal-scoring debut for Ireland in the friendly in Finland. David Seaman called him on his mobile phone with congratulations. But when it came to getting his feet back on the ground, a loan spell at a club with just four points from a possible 42 this season did the trick nicely.

During a short career in which he has captained Arsenal's FA Youth Cup-winning team, played the role of patient understudy to perfection and recovered from a debilitating illness, Barrett has already indicated that battles like Brighton's are something he relishes.

"Graham is a 100-per-center," says Liam Brady, Arsenal's head of youth development. "He's very conscientious about his profession and he won't be down there saying 'Well, I'm an Arsenal player, I don't really want to be involved in this relegation battle.' He'll give his all for the club while he's there."

With his shaven head, unstinting commitment and football skills that stand out among team-mates who have spent most of their careers in the lower divisions, Barrett has been an instant hit with the Brighton fans. Earlier this week, the club's new manager, Steve Coppell, contacted Arsenal to see if a loan spell that has already been extended until the end of this month could continue until the end of the season. The reply may determine much about where the career of one of Ireland's most promising strikers is headed.

Barrett's education at Highbury has lasted six years now, but has included just two substitute appearances in Arsene Wenger's first team. A successful loan spell at Colchester United in the Second Division proved he has enough quality to play first team football at a higher level, but the longer he spends in the shadows at Arsenal the more it looks like he will have to move elsewhere. Barrett, though, is determined to fight for his ambitions.

"Everyone wants to play first team football and I'm no different," he says. "But I want to play at the top. I think I have the ability to maybe progress and get to the top. I was a youth at Arsenal, so obviously I've got a special feeling towards them. I want to make it there.

"I knew when I joined Arsenal that they were a massive club and they're even bigger now. They've taken it on a step. If I was afraid of the competition I wouldn't have signed, but the fact is that I'm not afraid of the competition and I'm very confident in my own ability to be that good. So it doesn't faze me. I don't see it as an uphill task, I just see it as a challenge."

A member of Brian Kerr's Under-16 team which won the European Championships in Scotland in 1998, Barrett's link play and intelligence had always marked him out as a play-making forward who could eventually become a full international. When he did on that day in August in Finland's Olympic Stadium, playing the final 15 minutes alongside Robbie Keane, everything went perfectly. Within seven minutes he had drilled the ball into the net, to the astonishment of his team-mates.

It was the story of the night, but not enough to shake the perception that Barrett's career has started slowly. He has had the misfortune to emerge at a time when Robbie Keane - less than a year older than Barrett - has set the benchmark for what young Irish forwards can achieve and how quickly they can achieve it. Barrett's decision to choose Arsenal as his first club has meant that, relative to Keane, he is a virtual unknown.

"I've still accomplished a great deal already," he insists. "I made my debut for Ireland at 20, scored on my debut and I've played a few Premiership games, so I don't think of what could have been if I was playing somewhere else regularly at 18.

"Arsenal is the best place to learn the game in my view. But I obviously want to take it on from there. I'm playing regularly at a good level now in the First Division. If I'm playing well enough, hopefully I'll be called into the full Ireland squad."

AS Barrett's mentor at Arsenal, Brady believes that decision time is looming. "I think this season will determine much about the Arsenal situation," he says. "After he does a stint at Brighton, I think he'll find out from the manager where he stands as regards his Arsenal future. The pleasing thing for me is that he's gone playing in the First Division and it's not a problem to him. So the lad is going to have a career ahead of him in football."

At Brighton, Barrett has struck up a promising partnership with Bobby Zamora, the club's England Under-21 international, in an area of the team that contains most of the quality. With the majority of his squad out of their depth after two successive promotions, Coppell has work to do to prevent the season turning to humiliation. Barrett has scored one goal during a spell that has been interrupted by suspension and unavailability, and he remains positive.

"It's been hard, defeats-wise," he says. "Every team goes through that, but that's football and we could put a run together of six wins as well. I wouldn't rule that out either. Our luck's got to change some time you know."

A year ago, Barrett bought his own apartment in Barnet, north London, where he lives alone, cooks, drives to training and hangs out with his mate Stephen Bradley, Arsenal's other young Tallaght prospect. The challenges of building a life and of recovering from a year on the sidelines with glandular fever have made him philosophical.

"When you come over so young you have to grow up quickly, because it's a tough world and a tough game. Only the best and the strongest survive it, so it can be cruel. So you've got to be strong, mentally and physically. I'm enjoying myself, enjoying my football, I'm happy.

"I've always been told by Liam and Don (Givens, Ireland's under-21 manager) that what you put into it you'll eventually get out of it. And it just proves that they were right. The things you go through make you stronger. I just wasn't meant to make it back then early, when I was 18 and pushing towards the first team. My body obviously wasn't ready for it then, and it is now."

If that's the case, the Ireland squad will be more than ready to receive him.