Mick McCarthy expects both James McClean and Enda Stevens to be available for Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off game away to Slovakia.

You can probably quote Oscar Wilde on cynicism, or what a cynic is, to be more precise: Someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Barnsley have been fined £20,000 by the Football Association and ordered to “implement an action plan” after the club’s deputy safety officer told match officials that James McClean “should be used to” abuse.

Mick McCarthy says Shane Long is “back where we need him to be” to stake a claim for a place on the plane to Slovakia, while the manager is prepared to give Ciaran Clark and James McClean as long as he can to see if they are able to recover from injury in time for Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off on March 26.

Mick McCarthy will keep the door open for James McClean to recover in time for the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2020 play-off.

James McClean has emerged as a major injury doubt for Ireland’s Euro play-off against Slovakia next month after sustaining a medial knee ligament injury.

James McClean says that sectarian abuse aimed at him in football grounds has “simmered right down” since the authorities began taking belated but decisive action to deal with a problem

McClean is enjoying a resurgence of form under Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill at Stoke, with talk of a possible all-Ireland Euros qualifier so far confined to some good-natured joshing.

The anti-discrimination body says the current situation can't continue for the sake of McClean and his family's wellbeing.

Barnsley have been hit with a Football Association charge after Stoke midfielder James McClean was allegedly the target of sectarian chants in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday.

"It has become clear this type of abuse is becoming a weekly occurrence for James."

Huddersfield FC are investigating the racist behaviour towards Stoke's James McClean during their clash last night.

Larry Ryan picks out five things we probably knew already from Ireland's draw with Denmark...

Picture the young James McClean when he first wore a Sunderland jersey. Memories stir of a fearless winger slaloming down the touchline. It seemed, even then, to be almost old-fashioned in a league that was no longer so in thrall to the hustle and bustle of years gone by.

Kevin Kilbane seems a nice guy.

The racist chanting from Bulgarian fans directed at some England soccer players at the recent European championship qualifier match in Sofia was roundly criticised by the English FA and by Fifa, the world governing body of football.

Prior to Geneva, when did Ireland last start with 3-5-2?

And so it's Daneja vu all over again.

Barring one adventurous run in which he cut inside a couple of Georgian defenders into their penalty box, Matt Doherty made little impact during the stalemate in Tbilisi.

Ireland are top of the group with two games to play - starting with a tough tie in Switzerland on Tuesday.

It didn’t take long at Mick McCarthy’s pre-match press conference for the visitors present to learn that Aaron Connolly’s fever had already reached Tbilisi.

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

Wow, this Aaron Connolly kid looks pretty good, are we sure he’s not English? Like, really sure?

The uninvited viewers arrived over the hill wearing school bags and uniforms.

Nottingham Forest surged to the top of the SkyBet Championship on the back of a 3-2 win at Stoke that increased the pressure on under-fire boss Nathan Jones.

There were times when this would have felt just like old times for Glenn Whelan. And everyone watching.

It appears there’s quite the mutual appreciation society developing between Mick McCarthy and James McClean.

James McClean has warned Switzerland to write off the Republic of Ireland at their peril as the sides prepare to go head-to-head in the battle for Euro 2020 qualification.

Republic of Ireland midfielders James McClean and Jeff Hendrick were delighted to emerge from Denmark with a share of the spoils.

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.

Taking a look at what to expect from tomorrow's Euro qualifier against Denmark.

As we know from experience, a conversation with James McClean can only rarely, if ever, confine itself to what he calls “the finer things” in the game.

Luca Connell has told Mick McCarthy that he is committed to playing for Ireland and the manager has further revealed that but for a thigh injury ruling him out, the Liverpool-born Bolton Wanderers midfielder would have been in with a real chance of at least a cameo in the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Gibraltar.

Aaron Greene sent Shamrock Rovers returning to Dublin on a high last night, the lone striker having silenced a Brandywell crowd of 3,500 with the game’s only goal.

After St Patrick’s Day had segued into the Bank Holiday Monday, I sat down to watch Michael Conlan’s fight against Ruben Garcia Hernandez.

Damien Duff and Ronnie Whelan may have found fault with the tennis balls served up in protest against John Delaney at the Aviva Stadium, but Mick McCarthy could see the funny side after a performance and result that sets Ireland up nicely in Group D.

James McClean doesn’t pull any punches, on or off the pitch.

This was a story of gale force rather than gael force, as a struggling Ireland scrambled to a 1-0 victory against lowly Gibraltar.

Newport County’s remarkable FA Cup odyssey may have ended on Saturday but a 4-1 defeat didn’t stop Irish striker Pádraig Amond from leaving the pitch with a pep in his step.

Is a reunion on the cards?

One race, one game, one day can only ever add to the information bank. It is never definitive.

The one moment of real cheer for the loud and loyal travelling support in Aarhus came with the arrival into senior international football, with 10 minutes remaining, of Michael Obafemi.

Neil Lennon has hit out at the abuse he has suffered in Scotland, writes Tommy Martin

Campaigners yesterday called for a crackdown on anti-Irish racism.