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Irish Eye: No need to panic, Richard Dunne is fine

The Honey Monster’s back and Jimmy McClean is banging in frees. Here’s how the Irish lads got on across the water this weekend.

EVERY MONDAY, WE scan the passports, check the family trees and cross-reference with the “granny rule” to keep you informed about the ups and downs of all the Irish (and Irish-eligible) footballers in England and Scotland. Think of us as the Tardelli to your Trap, if you will…

Premier League

Richard Dunne (West Brom 0-0 Aston Villa) Giovanni Trapattoni and the rest of Ireland can breathe a huge sigh of relief — Richard Dunne is back. The centre-half quashed any doubts about his fitness on his return from a two-and-a-half month injury layoff, leading by example for the full 90 minutes in Villa’s 0-0 draw at the Hawthorns.

James McClean (Sunderland 2-2 Bolton Wanderers) Was this the moment when Trap realised that he simply cannot ignore McClean this summer? After the youngster cracked a 55th-minute free in off the underside of Adam Bogdan’s bar, the Italian said that McClean is now “90 to 99 per cent” sure to be on the plane.



Championship

Adam Rooney (Birmingham City 2-0 Reading) Rooney came off the bench early on and got Birmingham’s first in a 2-0 win against league champions Reading, firing past Adam Federici in the 25th minute. Birmingham will play Blackpool in the play-off semi-finals.

Andy Keogh (Milwall 2-2 Blackpool) Keogh got Millwall’s final home game of the season off to a flying start, timing his run perfectly to beat the offside trap before side-footing past Matt Gilks

League One

Keith Treacy (Brentford 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday) Keith Treacy kept Sheffield Wednesday in the hunt for automatic promotion with a free-kick in the 38th minute. The Dubliner, on loan from Burnley, caught Brentford keeper Simon Moore with a quickly-taken free at the near post.

Jay O’Shea (Rochdale 1-2 MK Dons) O’Shea set the tone for the Dons trip to Rochdale, opening the scoring after just three minutes with a drilled shot through keeper Matt Edwards’s legs.

Alan Judge (Wycombe Wanderers 3-4 Notts County) Alan Judge kept Notts County within touching distance of a place in the play-offs with an injury-time winner that relegated Wycombe. It was Judge’s second of the afternoon after he levelled the match at 2-2 in the 40th minute, and then

Scottish Premier League

Willo Flood (Dundee United 2-2 Hearts) Dundee United’s hopes of making the Champions League were dented with a 2-2 home draw against Hearts. Flood opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a brilliant hit from all of 30 yards.

Jonny Hayes (Kilmarnock 4-3 Inverness CT) Jonny Hayes’s season ended prematurely after he was sent off for a second yellow in Inverness’s 4-3 defeat away to Kilmarnock.

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