RICHARD DUNNE HAS praised his Ireland and Aston Villa teammate Shay Given, after the goalkeeper performed with distinction just hours after the death of his ex-Newcastle teammate and close friend Gary Speed.
The goalkeeper was unable to hold back the tears after an emotional minute’s silence in his club’s game against Swansea on Sunday, and Dunne spoke of the goalkeeper’s courage in deciding to play.
He told reporters:
“Shay Given is really close friends with him and Shay told the rest of us.“It is difficult for him, I imagine he will be down for a while.”
And Dunne also described the difficulty of having to play in such circumstances:
“It wasn’t easy at Swansea, there are more important things than football, but the game had to go ahead.“Both teams were professional and tried as hard as we could.
“The last few minutes they had a couple of chances but Shay did great on one of them.”
It was announced earlier today that the inquest into Speed’s death would be adjourned until January.
