Drills, dogs and ironing boards

WE WERE going to say that Richard Dunne must be kicking himself at the moment but that would be the kind of insensitive cheap shot that’s beneath this column.

Poor Richard, you’ll have heard, was so enraged by team mate Joey Barton’s provocation in a Bangkok hotel, that he took out his frustration by kicking a wall. Result: a crocked bone in the foot.

It might come as some small consolation to the Dubliner to learn that his self-inflicted wound is far from unique. Indeed, in the annals of freak injuries sustained by top players, Dunne’s own goal is pretty run of the mill.