Route to top much tougher now for Irish

There was a painful inevitability about Arsenal and Chelsea releasing their last Irish players recently, continuing a trend which adversely reflects on this country’s reputation for producing talent capable of cutting it at the very top level.

But why should we be lamenting that Conor Henderson and Conor Clifford are discarded by the two London clubs hot on the heels of the Manchester clubs offloading Greg Cunningham and Robbie Brady?

Clifford, Brady and Cunningham all left these shores as teens (Henderson is the sole English-born of the quartet) straddled with expectation, yet fully aware of the congested route they faced to succeed at their respective top-flight clubs.