First impressions count and it didn’t take Joe Mason long to make his mark on his Burton Albion debut.

Carlos Carvalhal hailed Keiren Westwood as “a fantastic goalkeeper” after his first-half penalty save helped Sheffield Wednesday to a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest in Championship action.

Daryl Horgan’s first start for Preston proved a memorable one, the former Dundalk star creating the second goal and nearly scoring a third as North End beat Chris Hughton’s Brighton 2-0 in Saturday’s Championship clash at Deepdale.

A year that featured the glorious high of scoring Ireland’s winner against Italy in Lille ended in frustrating fashion for Robbie Brady as the Dubliner was sent off in Norwich City’s 0-0 Championship draw at Brentford on Saturday.

With Robbie Keane expected to retire from international football, Martin O’Neill’s need to unearth a striker who regularly finds the net grows ever more urgent.

Jon Walters capped a memorable weekend and a memorable year when, having scored for Stoke City in their 2-1 win at Watford on Saturday, he was last night named Ireland’s Player of 2015 at the annual FAI/3 International Awards.

Martin O’Neill’s attacking options for the decisive Euro 2016 qualifiers have been hit with confirmation that Kevin Doyle will miss the Republic of Ireland October showdowns with Germany and Poland.

Having upped sticks from Malahide, the Irish squad will get a first taste of their new Dublin base when they step out on Pitch Number One at the National Training Centre in Abbotstown this morning, to begin preparations for the European Championship double-header away to Gibraltar in Faro on Friday and at home to Georgia in the Aviva Stadium on the following Monday.

Any of you mathematicians out there fancy decoding this little baby? (Deep breath): 0000011003210002002054031002651206140004.

To John O’Shea, the solution is simple.

Martin O’Neill is trusting that his players will go the extra mile in keeping themselves sharp and focused in the long post-season run-up to the friendly against England on June 7 and, more crucially, the Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland on June 13.

After the rugby heroics on Saturday, Martin O’Neill last night admitted that his Irish team have "a lot to live up to" as they begin a week of preparations ahead of the meeting with Poland next Sunday.

Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter is the only newcomer in a provisional 34-man Irish squad for the Euro qualifier against Poland but Martin O’Neill has sprung something of a surprise by including injured Hull City winger Robbie Brady.

Ten-man Stoke suffered FA Cup embarrassment at Ewood Park as they were torn apart 4-1 by a second-string Blackburn side with Josh King, one of those fringe players, scoring a hat-trick.

Harry Arter marked his 25th birthday in style by scoring for the fifth successive league game as Bournemouth beat Millwall 2-0 to move four points clear at the top of the Championship.

Martin O'Neill has named a provisional 36-man squad for Ireland's upcoming games against Scotland and USA.

Jonathan Walters has described Tuesday’s dramatic equaliser against Germany as payback for the humiliating 6-1 loss in Dublin two years before.

He may have netted twice but Daryl Murphy still cut a frustrated figure after Nottingham Forest struck late to deny Ipswich victory in yesterday’s Championship clash.

Injured midfielder James McCarthy will be monitored after being left out of the Republic of Ireland squad for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Germany because of injury.

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has named a provisional 37-man squad for next month’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Germany.

With the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign less than a week away, the weekend’s championship action brought some unwelcome news for Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill as Jeff Hendrick suffered a dislocated shoulder in Derby’s 1-1 draw with Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich.

Shay Given has been recalled to the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of next week’s double-header against Oman and Georgia.

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill sprang no surprises when he named a provisional squad for his first competitive game.

Martin O'Neill has named a provisional 36-man squad for Ireland's upcoming games against Oman and Georgia.

The FAI has launched its own investigation into why a schoolboys soccer club was fined €200 after the manager of one of its underage teams took a stance against racism.

David Forde has set his sights on a remarkable double as he prepares to lock horns with Italy once again.

Boss Martin O’Neill has named his final 29-man squad for the Republic of Ireland’s end-of-season friendlies, with James McCarthy among those from the provisional party to be left out.

Stephen Ireland could yet be added to the Republic of Ireland squad for their end-of-season friendlies.

Martin O’Neill believes Stephen Ireland is “warming” to the idea of an international return but the manager says he wants to sit down with the player to discuss his seven-year exile and his current intentions in more detail.

Norwich manager Chris Hughton will investigate reports want-away midfielder Wes Hoolahan made derogatory remarks about the Canaries ahead of a media conference yesterday afternoon.

Nottingham Forest 2 QPR 0

Noel King may never get to tackle the Ireland job in a full-time capacity, and he may not have done himself too many favours with the manner he tackled that post-match interview with Tony O’Donoghue, but the interim manager did indirectly address an issue that has for too long been ignored at Irish international level in the process.

Ireland caretaker manager Noel King has revealed he hoped to name Stephen Ireland in his first squad but, having established contact with the player, says he fully understands his reasons for postponing a return to international duty.

Andy Reid, Darron Gibson and Anthony Stokes have been recalled to the Republic of Ireland squad in the wake of Giovanni Trapattoni’s departure.

Solid performance from Simon Cox and a Darius Henderson late winner gave Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies something to enjoy from the directors’ box as he served a one-match touchline ban.

Giovanni Trapattoni has a series of injury concerns ahead of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier in Austria on Tuesday night.

Republic of Ireland 1 Sweden 2

THE conventional wisdom has it that the last time the Republic of Ireland beat a higher-ranked nation in a competitive international was on that memorable occasion in September 2001 when Jason McAteer’s celebrated strike was enough to see off Holland in a World Cup qualifier at Lansdowne Road.

Giovanni Trapattoni is still pondering a solution to the Aiden McGeady problem, with Simon Cox now in the frame to start on the left flank in Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Sweden tomorrow night.

Marco Tardelli is confident Richard Dunne could play against both Sweden and Austria if required as he prepares to return to competitive international football.