I’ll be a nervous wreck watching from afar

Earlier this week, I had an operation to reset a broken nose I picked up in a recent game — not the first time that’s happened to me, I can assure you — and, as well as that, my Achilles has been acting up a bit recently.

For those reasons, I won’t be joining up with the Irish squad for the friendly against Oman in London next week. I spoke to the manager about it and he agreed it was best I take the opportunity to make the most of the rest and recuperation offered by the international break before I get back to trying to help Bolton get over our disappointing start to the Championship season.

Still, if I hadn’t been suspended for this evening’s game in Astana — the result of my sending off against Italy at the Euros — then I guarantee you that neither the broken nose nor the niggling Achilles would have kept me out of the game against Kazakhstan.