Crocked Dunne to miss Irish qualifiers

RICHARD DUNNE’S stop-start comeback to his international career has suffered a severe setback with the confirmation that he will be out of the game for three months, as a result of a broken bone in his foot which he sustained in the notorious Joey Barton incident in Thailand.

The centre-half will not now be available for selection for the Republic of Ireland’s three remaining World Cup qualifiers against France, Cyprus and Switzerland.

In what was a bizarre self-inflicted injury, Dunne cracked a bone in his foot when he reportedly kicked a wall in frustration after being attacked by Manchester City team mate Barton in a Bangkok hotel. Dunne, his club stressed, had tried to act as peacemaker after Barton had reacted angrily to the taunts of a schoolboy Everton fan.