After a quick scan through the list of Irish players making their living in Britain you'd have to conclude that Casualty Ward would be a more apt title for this particular round-up. Chris Byrne (Stockport) and Liam George (Luton) are already ruled out for the season after picking up serious leg injuries while Portsmouth's John Durnin will be out of action for at least a few months after damaging a knee ligament in a reserve match.
Last week Rochdale's John Pender, a former Irish youth and under-21 international, now 35, had his contract with the club terminated after failing to recover from a knee injury he picked up last season.
Leeds' Gary Kelly and Alan Maybury are both recovering from shin splint operations, but are back in light training and hope to be fit for first team action in January, while Middlesbrough's Alan Moore had his loan spell at Barnsley cut short by injury, although he did not, as first feared, suffer a broken leg.
Curtis Fleming (knee ligament), Shay Given (shoulder), Keith Branagan (hernia operation), Keith O'Halloran (knee ligament), Keith O'Neill (hamstring) and Paul McGregor (hamstring) have also been in the wars recently.
There is at least good news for some long-term injury victims. Daniel Connor, the former Irish under-18 goalkeeper who damaged his cruciate ligament in last season's FA Youth Cup quarter final, played his first match in nine months on Saturday for Peterborough's under-19 side; Terry Phelan (Everton) will start training in about three weeks, over a year since he picked up a cartilage injury, and Jon Goodman (Wimbledon) and Liam Daish (Coventry) are both back in their first team squads after recovering from cruciate knee ligament surgery.
Irish players on the move last week were Lee Power (Plymouth to Halifax), Dominic Foley (Wolves to Notts County) and Mark McKeever (Sheffield Wednesday to Bristol Rovers), all on one-month loans. Neale Fenn returned to Spurs after a loan spell at Swindon, after they decided not to make the move permanent, while Hibernian failed to a agree a fee with Coventry to make Barry Prenderville's three-month loan spell permanent - he has returned to Highfield Road.
Peterborough's Niall Inman turned down a loan move to non-League St Alban's City while Portsmouth's Alan McLoughlin is on offer for just £30,000 after the club's chairman Martin Gregory placed the entire playing staff at Fratton Park on the transfer list last week, all at bargain prices.
Amongst the goals at the weekend were Sean McClare (for Barnsley away to Ipswich), Paul Butler (for Sunderland at home to Port Vale) and Robbie Keane, whose two late goals against Norwich earned Wolves a draw and move him level with Niall Quinn, on 10 goals, as top Irish scorer in Britain.
