McClean will stay on Trap’s radar

JAMES McCLEAN may take some convincing, but it is highly unlikely the youngster’s glaring second half miss at Stamford Bridge diminished his all-round performance in the eyes of the Giovanni Trapattoni.

Trapattoni was in the stands to check on the Sunderland winger, who has quickly made an impression since breaking into the first team last month and is revelling in the responsibility placed in him by manager Martin O’Neill.

The Derry-born McClean has confirmed his commitment to the Republic of Ireland despite representing the north at U21 level and is being considered by Trapattoni as a possible contender for a place in his Euro 2012 squad.

The Italian insisted last Friday that his first priority lay with the players who had achieved qualification but, having been given a glowing reference by team-mate John O’Shea, McClean cannot be ruled out and if his second half performance — the missed chance aside — is anything to go by, his chances cannot be discounted.

McClean grew in stature as the game progressed although he will be anxious to move on from the failure to convert from eight yards midway through the second period when Sunderland upped their efforts to find an equaliser after Frank Lampard had given Chelsea a 13th minute lead.

The former Derry City winger was not alone among his team-mates in missing a straightforward opportunity to score — O’Neill insisted a “blundering full-back from four leagues lower” would have converted at least one of his side’s chances — and to his credit, he responded to the setback well.

“It’s genuinely not in his nature to hide,” said O’Neill. “Of course he was disappointed and he is beating himself up about it in the dressing room but hiding isn’t in his nature. That’s only his fourth start and he will be fine.

“He’s been really fantastic for us, he started getting into the game more in the second half. Sometimes you have teach him during the game but he’s willing to do it. During the game he started to pick it up and go at (Jose) Bosingwa (the Chelsea right-back). I think we couldn’t get the ball to McClean as much as we would have liked to because Chelsea are a fine side in possession. He started to drift inside but I thought he was excellent in the final half hour.”

If McClean wanted someone to share his disappointment, he could have done worse than seek out Fernando Torres, who knows a thing or two about frustration in front of goal.

The Chelsea forward is without a league goals since September 24 and while his performance suggests his form is finally beginning to improve after a dismal 12 months, the acrobatic volley that set up Lampard’s goal suggested his luck most definitely is not.

The Spaniard twisted acrobatically to connect with Juan Mata’s cross but saw his effort cannon off the crossbar and rebound into the goal off Lampard’s knee and it must have been particularly galling to see the England midfielder sprint off in the opposite direction both arms aloft. Still, Andre Villas-Boas insisted there was much to admire in Torres’ display, and that’s not something the Chelsea manager has been able to say too often this season.

The hope is that with Didier Drogba away on African Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast, the Spaniard will rise to the occasion and shoulder responsibility like a £50m record signing should.

“It was a good individual performance for him, he’s improving in form, confidence, looking better and creating danger with the chances that he got,” Villas-Boas said. “He’s still not scoring but is ever so close to scoring which is already good. He’s assisting people a lot and via a crossbar he assisted Frank.”

Villas-Boas has more reasons to be upbeat, with Michael Essien returning from a serious knee injury as a second half substitute and Gary Cahill watching from the stands prior to his £7m move from Bolton.

A title challenge still looks unrealistic but after a troubled season, the manager is understandably keen to grab all the positives he can.

“We are improving,” he said. “We have a very good group of players and hopefully we can continue to motivate and push their talent and that can take us to high places.

“It’s been a good weekend for us and we have now got three wins in-a-row. We have a tough game ahead at Norwich but we want to continue to prove our worth and get three points.”