Greg Cunningham has returned to parent club Cardiff after his loan spell at Blackburn was cut short by injury.

Four hundred friends packed into St Agatha's Church, Kingston in London today for the funeral service of Trizia Fiorellino, who wrote on all matters Chelsea for this newspaper.

The Corkman will remain in the Carabao Cup side despite Alisson Becker’s return to fitness meaning Adrian – who was covering for the Brazil international last month – would normally be in line.

Seamus Coleman will miss out as he serves a two-game suspension but will be invited to join up with the squad in Dublin for the final Euro 2020 qualifier.

Mick McCarthy has an acid tongue that is also capable of delivering lines as smooth as velvet.

Blackburn’s on-loan Cardiff defender Greg Cunningham is set to be sidelined for several months with a serious knee injury.

Following his dream debut in the Premier League on Saturday, Aaron Connolly will take his first steps as a senior Ireland international when he trains with the rest of Mick McCarthy’s squad in Abbotstown this afternoon.

Blackburn Rovers defenders Darragh Lenihan and Greg Cunningham have been called up for the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifiers this month.

Leeds’ Achilles heel hurt them once more as the Sky Bet Championship leaders were held 1-1 at home by Derby.

Wayne Routledge scored a last-minute winner as Swansea edged their top-of-the-table clash with Leeds at Elland Road.

Ireland international striker Callum Robinson will be fit for Sheffield United’s clash with Leicester tomorrow (3pm Bramall Lane). Robinson came off injured against Crystal Palace but is recovered, according to Blades boss Chris Wilder.

Sheffield Wednesday moved top of the SkyBet Championship after a 1-0 victory over Luton.

The draw was made after completion of 33 first-round fixtures last night and includes all the top-flight clubs who are not involved in European competitions.

Chris Sutton fully accepts that Paul Pogba hasn’t reproduced his World Cup-winning form at Old Trafford.

Promotion favourites Fulham suffered a blast of Championship reality with a shock opening-weekend 1-0 loss at Barnsley.

The phrase ‘boyhood dream’ is rather over-used in football, but even the most cynical amongst us could not fail to tingle, surely, at the thought of winning the Champions League playing for the club we supported as a child.

The battle for promotion from the Championship reaches a crescendo this weekend with at least eight teams still dreaming of making it into the Premier League and two able to seal it right now. But how well prepared are any of the sides for what could lie ahead?

Manchester United go into tomorrow's derby with Manchester City on a run of six defeats in eight games.

Spring is in the air. The cold hand of the previous year’s winter, which resulted in heavy snow and fixture cancellations as late as March was conspicuous by its absence but as April begins no one is taking the warm weather for granted just yet.

We live in an era of protest, one in which the right to protest is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, and one in which nervous authorities are increasingly influenced by the voice of the people and the noise they make.

Up to last weekend, Jack Byrne would have been expecting to complete his football duties this week by heading north to Ballybofey to face Finn Harps.

It’s been another rough week for Pat. Or Tom. Or Ger. Whatever you want to call him, you know him well anyway.

Midfielder Alan Browne once again demonstrated his goal-scoring prowess when his 11th of the season helped Preston to a 2-1 Championship victory at Bolton.

O'Neill was a hugely animated figure and was lectured by referee Jeremy Simpson after straying from his technical area and down the side of the pitch once too often.

Saturday was a landmark day for Adam O’Reilly as the 17-year-old from Mahon in Cork city made his Preston debut in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.

His manager Alex Neil has blamed the injury on his workload with Ireland during the international break.

Valentino Lazaro broke Northern Ireland hearts as he struck the winner for Austria with virtually the last kick of the game at Windsor Park.

He becomes the first man to manage both clubs.

An exquisite free-kick from Conor Hourihane rescued a point for Aston Villa in Saturday’s Championship clash at Blackburn.

Former Arsenal midfielder John Jensen will take charge of Denmark’s Uefa Nations League opener against Wales after the row which has rocked Danish football took an extraordinary twist.

Jonathan Kodjia rescued a last-gasp point for Aston Villa as they grabbed a 2-2 draw against Brentford.

Very few of us paid attention when Greg Cunningham’s transfer from Preston to Cardiff City went through in June.

Tommie Hoban has declared himself fit and ready to make his Aberdeen debut against Burnley in the Europa League after joining on loan from Watford.

The Latics knocked out Pep Guardiola's side in the fifth round in February.

A look back at the weekend’s soccer news...

Shane Duffy is not looking forward to a summer which will see him sitting in an armchair watching the World Cup finals on television.

Daniel Storey reviews this weekend’s Premier League action.

Danny Welbeck scored twice against AC Milan to toast his England recall by sending Arsenal into the last eight of the Europa League.

This nightmare at the Theatre of Dreams was no more than Manchester United deserved, not least for their cautious approach against unfancied Seville, who march into the quarter-finals of the Champions League at their expense.

Mark Hughes is in talks to become Southampton’s next manager.

Southampton are hoping to have Pellegrino's successor in place for Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Wigan.