I’m closing on starting place, declares bullish Hunt

STEPHEN HUNT has never given the impression of a man lacking in self-belief and the Reading midfielder was in typically ebullient form last night when he backed himself to reclaim a starting spot in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Irish XI.

The Reading midfielder played the full 180 minutes when Ireland faced Georgia in Mainz and Montenegro in Podgorica but has since been usurped in the queue by the Italian’s preference for Aiden McGeady and the fit-again Damien Duff on the wings.

“I trust myself and believe in my own ability,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier. “I’ll back them if they’re playing and I’m sure they will back me if I am playing. That will be the sign of a good team by the end of the qualification.