McLeish keeps the faith in Ireland

STEPHEN IRELAND has played in just six of Aston Villa’s 13 games this season but manager Alex McLeish insists the Cobh native has a future in claret and blue.

The former Scotland boss revealed that Ireland did not make the trip to Swansea last weekend because of a strained ligament in his right foot, putting to bed claims that the former Manchester City midfielder had been dropped from the 18-man squad.

“He did have a knock on his foot; in training on Friday morning he came in after the warm-up and said he was just feeling a bit of pressure on it when he was running,” explained McLeish.