‘When I played first I was shaking... now I feel like I belong’, says Shane Duffy

There are still beads of sweat on his brow after a 90-minute training session in the Mediterranean sun but it’s the snow of last weekend which is on Shane Duffy’s mind as he relates the saga of how he was unable to pick up his FAI Senior Player of the Year Award in Dublin on Sunday.

“Yeah, two flights got cancelled from Manchester so we got taxis to Birmingham and then that was delayed until 11.30,” he says, shaking his head.

“I was a bit gutted over it but I didn’t have to do the speaking so it was alright (laughs).”