Irish player of the week

What does the Irish team need to boost their hopes of qualifying for the next World Cup finals (preferably without taking the play-off route)? Another natural born goalscorer in the Robbie Keane mould, perhaps? Well, we think we've found one. He plays in the French first division for Nancy and on Saturday was man of the match in a 2-2 draw against Marseille, scoring both his side's goals. Better still he is, by all accounts, good in the air and is vastly experienced. His name? Anthony Cascarino.

Young Tony shares this week's award with another Irish striker Sean Devine who, not so long ago, was on the `next big thing' list, winning a call-up to the Irish B team in February of last year when he partnered Robbie Keane up front against Northern Ireland.

But then it all went wrong and Devine, whose career CV makes interesting reading (he's had spells with Millwall, Fisher Athletic, Omonia Nicosia and Anorthosis Famagusta, with a trial at West Ham thrown in) couldn't even make Barnet's first team and, after a falling out with his manager, transferred to Wycombe Wanderers. But he hasn't stopped scoring goals since - on Saturday he brought his tally for the season to 14 in 24 games, scoring both Wycombe's goals in a 2-0 win against Brentford.