The encouraging phone calls from Mick McCarthy helped, as did the support of his fellow Irishmen in the Deepdale dressing room and the countless monotonous, gruelling hours he has spent in the gym.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has already seen that Seamus Coleman is a star in the making.

Two protesters from the Fathers 4 Justice group today climbed up the ’Big One’ rollercoaster in Blackpool in England dressed as Batman and The Hulk.