McGoldrick and Christie to start tonight

And then, finally, talk of a football match broke out — although not before John O’Shea too was canvassed for his opinion on the man of the hour and replied he was only too happy to echo Martin O’Neill’s sentiments about how "brilliant" it was for the players to have Roy Keane as part of the Irish management team.

Then, reflecting on the fall from the high of his equalising goal in Gelsenkirchen last month to the low of defeat in Glasgow on Friday, O’Shea bemoaned the lapse of concentration which he felt cost Ireland a point in Celtic Park.

Said the Sunderland man: “I felt it looked like it was heading for 0-0 and the most disappointing thing is that the manager and the staff had explained to us how important the set-pieces were going to be in games that are so tight. And that was the disappointing thing on the night, to concede the goal we did. Scotland said they worked on it but they had a bit of luck in the transition of the set piece and we didn’t react quick enough to stop it.