Fans hoping French will put plenty over the bar at Croker

IRISH fans had been hoping that French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac would be employing his Gaelic football skills by putting plenty over the bar at Croke Park tomorrow.

The Toulouse striker was expected to line out for Les Blues in the World Cup qualifier – although doubts were raised last night after he limped off after training. But earlier the striker admitted to not only a fondness for Ireland but also for Gaelic football.

It turns out Gignac spent some time here as a youngster and fell in love with the native game. “When I was younger, I went to Ireland to a summer camp at Fermoy, near Cork. There, I discovered Gaelic football,” he said.