James McClean will welcome Declan Rice back into the Republic of Ireland squad with open arms should the West Ham United player opt against a switch of allegiance to England and stick with the Boys in Green.

The prospects of Declan Rice reaffirming his allegiance to Ireland are rapidly receding after bookmakers last night stopped taking bets on the West Ham United mainstay defecting to England.

Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says the national team has become "like Roy Keane’s Ireland" after all the negative publicity around the assistant manager.

Niall Quinn knows what it is to suffer Roy Keane’s wrath.

John Giles would not only welcome Declan Rice back into the fold but would put him straight into the Irish team.

Keith Andrews believes that if Ireland lose both games and badly underperform in next month’s Nations League double header at the Aviva, there will be no way back for the Martin O’Neill/Roy Keane management team.

"Keane can forget about a future in the game. He won't have Martin O'Neill to shield him forever."

Snippets of last night’s display in Poland offered encouragement for Ireland’s Nations League rescue mission yet the questions about Martin O’Neill’s leadership won’t dissipate.

Roy Keane is ready to have a “reconciliation” with Arter, said Martin O'Neill.

Martin O’Neill has said that Stephen Ward’s leaked account of the row involving Roy Keane, Harry Arter and Jon Walters has no implications for the Burnley man’s international career.

Martin O’Neill has said that Roy Keane is ready to have a “reconciliation” with Harry Arter.

As Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane pitch into battle tonight without the services of disenchanted Harry Arter, former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy is calling on him to mount a reconciliation bid.

Harry Arter has made himself unavailable for Ireland’s Nations League opener against Wales on Thursday, as the fallout from his disagreement with Roy Keane intensifies.

It's back!

If Harry Arter has played his last game for Bournemouth, then there will be consolation in the knowledge that, after a recent clear-the-air discussion with manager Eddie Howe, he will be leaving the club on good terms.

Olivier Giroud’s presence on the sidelines provided confirmation Antonio Conte had got the new striker he wanted during the January transfer window.

John Fallon looks back on Irish soccer’s 2017

Chelsea  2 Bournemouth 1:  Alvaro Morata’s stoppage-time strike sent Chelsea into the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 defeat of Bournemouth.

David Luiz's future makes the papers for a second day in a row.

Bournemouth 1 Burnley 2: Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe endured a miserable 40th birthday, as former club Burnley continued their fine away form with a 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium.

Right, here we go. Time to give the checklist a final once-over.

Average golfers have a saying: ‘It’s not how, it’s how many’.

It’s not often that the great minds of the Irish management team and the Irish media think alike but such was the case this week when we asked Roy Keane for his thoughts on how Shane Duffy has progressed to the point where he is now widely regarded as the rock of the Irish defence and one of the most consistent centre-halves in the Premier League.

Harry Arter’s Plan B when a thigh injury ruled him out of last year’s European Championships was a holiday in Marbella with a bunch of mates followed by a stint in Barcelona with his partner.

Martin O’Neill has said he would be disappointed if James McClean was not feeling frustrated about his restricted game time at West Brom.

Forget weary Wembley’s limp and half-hearted response to England’s recent qualification for Russia, forget those cynics who say international football doesn’t matter - anyone wanting to get a real flavour of what the World Cup really means should take a look at what happened on an historic night in Cardiff.

Martin O'Neill has named his starting team to face Moldova this evening.

While he fervently hopes that any end of era in Irish football is still a matter of months rather than days away, Martin O’Neill has said he expects a “natural exodus” of senior players once his team’s interest in World Cup 2018 is over.

While he fervently hopes that any end of era in Irish football is still a matter of months rather than days away, Martin O’Neill has said he expects a “natural exodus” of senior players once his team’s interest in World Cup 2018 is over.

The dream start of a fourth-minute Shane Duffy goal gave way to something more like a prolonged nightmare for Martin O’Neill’s team in Tbilisi on Saturday, as an abject performance and a third successive draw in qualifying put a significant dent in Ireland’s World Cup ambitions ahead of the crunch meeting with Serbia tomorrow night.

Shane Duffy was in philosophical mood after his first goal for the Republic of Ireland proved only enough to secure a World Cup qualifier draw in Georgia.

Since he’s something of an old-school sort, a tenacious midfielder who likes to get his tackles in, it’s probably just as well that Harry Arter isn’t one of the eight Irish players on yellow cards going into Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi.

Harry Arter cocks his head to one side and asks for the question to be repeated.

Home debutant Kevin Long admitted he was eager to lay down a marker in his first duel with Edison Cavani as Uruguay were swept aside with ease last night.

Chelsea 3 Bournemouth 1: Antonio Conte believes his team were title underdogs at the start of the season, damaged by a divisive and explosive year under Jose Mourinho in which they finished 10th and their manager was sacked, but it is pretty clear now that Chelsea will face the Special One at Old Trafford next weekend as champions-elect.

Liverpool 2 Bournemouth 2: Divock Origi provided the proof that Liverpool can prosper in attack without Sadio Mane. The problem for manager Jurgen Klopp is that his team remain so vulnerable defensively.

England midfielder Jake Livermore revealed how he reached out to Ireland’s Harry Arter when the Bournemouth midfielder’s daughter was stillborn in December 2015.

Sergio Aguero offered a reminder of his value to Manchester City by providing the winning goal as they moved up to second in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth.

Semi-professional footballer Alfie Barker has been sacked by parent club Hitchin Town and faces an investigation from the FA for offensive comments sent on Twitter to Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter about his stillborn daughter.

Antonio Conte was in no doubt about the significance of Chelsea’s club record, 12th successive league win.