Kilbane knew his number was up

Despite playing in six games and scoring once along the road to Poland, Kevin Kilbane was pretty sanguine yesterday when reflecting on not being part of the Euro 2012 squad.

An operation on his back put paid to that and almost certainly his playing career at club level. Though there is little doubt that if he had been fit he would almost certainly have made the squad and added to his 110 caps.

“Without a doubt, yes,” said Kilbane when asked if it was a case of what might have been regarding the finals.

“I was around in 2002 when the squad was announced and you want to be there and be a part of it. [But] I’ve not played now for the best part of seven or eight months so I knew back in October or November that I would never be part of it.”