Walters looks to the future

If it’s not quite a case of ‘don’t mention the war’, then at least there is an understandable tendency not to want to dwell on the great unpleasantness.

The subject, as you might have guessed, is Ireland’s dismal European Championships and the man being asked if it has become off-limits in the camp is Jon Walters, the Stoke striker who is line to make only his second competitive start for his country against Kazakhstan tomorrow.

“No, it’s not unmentionable, you just want to put it behind you,” he says. “It was such a disappointing thing. It was great to be there and the build-up was something everyone was looking forward to, so to lose all the games left a sour taste. But then you come back after a few weeks and it’s straight back into club football. This is a new campaign and the squad has a lot of fresh faces in it, so hopefully there are a lot of exciting times ahead.”