McCarthy’s left-field decision on Hourihane

In a spirit of, as he put it,“nothing ventured, nothing gained”, Mick McCarthy has made the left-field decision to play Conor Hourihane atleft-back against Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Enda Stevens’ yellow card against Switzerland means Ireland’s first choice left-full will miss next month’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Georgia and, in the absence of designated cover in the squad he has available for this evening’s friendly, the manager has decided to give the Corkman – who is currently out of favour as a starter at Aston Villa - a novel posting.