Yeovil switch the key to Madden’s change in fortunes

The fact that Paddy Madden watched part of Euro 2012 in Magaluf and the rest of it back in Dublin with his Da tells you something about what a transformative year it has been for the 23-year-old who, 14 months on, now finds himself coming to grips with the novelty of working with Ireland’s senior squad.

“You get a little bit star struck when you see John O’Shea,” he said in Newport yesterday, “because I was a big Man United fan growing up so to be training on the same pitch as him is amazing really.”

The key to the upsurge in Madden’s fortunes was a move last season to then League One Yeovil Town at a point when, the former Bohemians player readily admits, he was contemplating a return to Irish football after what turned out to be an unhappy spell at Carlisle United.