Kenny takes loss of stars in stride

First, it was Aaron Connolly and now it’s Troy Parrott – two stars who have been lost to the Irish U21 team as Mick McCarthy makes an offer than can’t be refused.

It’s the natural order of things, of course, as Stephen Kenny well understands but, at the same time, it’s hard to see how the promotion of such key players can’t but risk damaging his own team’s prospects of qualifying for the Euro 2021 finals in Hungary and Slovenia.