I prefer to have the team set in stone, says McCarthy

If there can be such a thing as an upside for Mick McCarthy in seeing four players succumb to friendly fire on the training pitch — Shane Long having now followed Alan Browne, Mark Travers and Luca Connell out of the squad since preparations for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar began on the Algarve — it’s that none would have been likely to start in Copenhagen on Friday night.

Naturally, the manager expressed disappointment that a player of Long’s experience and “explosive” power and pace has been ruled out with a hamstring strain but his decision not to call up a replacement striker is confirmation he’s happy with the options he still has available.