No pain, no gain for O’Dea

DARREN O’DEA has declared himself fit for the fray in Skopje on Saturday.

The Celtic defender, who has been out on loan at Ipswich Town, missed the end of the club season with an ankle injury but has recovered faster than expected and was able to get through 65 minutes of Ireland’s 1-0 win against Scotland in the Carling Nations Cup decider on Sunday.

“I’m actually fine, but I’m sore,” he says. “They were talking about giving me an injection at half-time but decided against it as I was only going to play another 15 minutes.