Midfielder has found a new lease of footballing life with his loan transfer to Nottingham Forest

THE smile has returned to Stephen McPhail’s face over the past week, which should be reason enough for most Irish football fans to smile.

For the past two seasons, McPhail's career was meandering on a path to nowhere, his promise going unfulfilled, his graph spiralling downward.

Now, one astute piece of business by Nottingham Forest boss Paul Hart, and the midfielder is 'delighted', as he remarked at the beginning of a press conference yesterday. Hart convinced McPhail that the City Ground is the place to showcase his undoubted potential for the next three months; we should be glad he did.