‘I was a young lad. I was going out too much and now I’m the complete opposite, I’m a bore and I stay in all the time’

UNTIL recently, all that Jon Walters had in common with Robbie Keane was the vast number of clubs he has played for, although the Tottenham man’s curriculum vitae of Liverpool and Inter Milan is a little more impressive than Chester, Wrexham and Scunthorpe.

It may only be a beginning but Walters’ one Premier League goal is one more than Keane or Kevin Doyle have to their names and he is undoubtedly playing at a higher level than Cillian Sheridan and Shane Long, who are ahead of them in the Republic of Ireland pecking order.

He may sound about as Irish as Jason McAteer but he has turned out for the ‘B’ team, as well as the under 21 side, and if he continues to play regularly for Stoke, full honours would surely be a formality in the new year.