Damien Duff's remarkable season at club and representative level ended abruptly yesterday when he learned that he must enter hospital for an operation on his groin.
It means that he will not only miss the European Under-18 championship game against Greece at Tolka Park tomorrow, but also the Paul McGrath testimonial on Sunday and the last of the European Championship warm-up games against Mexico at Lansdowne Road six days later.
The problem has been troubling Duff for some time and after playing in Blackburn's last game in the Premiership against Newcastle United at the weekend, it was determined that he should have surgery sooner rather than later.
After making an impressive senior international debut in the Czech Republic in March, he was forced out of last month's 2-0 defeat by Argentina and to that extent he will be bitterly disappointed in having to postpone his senior home debut yet again.
So, too, will the FAI, who were looking to the Blackburn youngster and Robbie Keane of Wolves to boost the sale of match tickets for the final international fixture of the season.
In the short term, his withdrawal from tomorrow's under-18 game against Greece will be viewed with some dismay by manager Brian Kerr. In spite of the fact that Duff and Keane both missed the original game, which Ireland won 1-0, he was looking to them to guide the team through another potentially difficult assignment at Tolka Park.
The Ireland squad for the Paul McGrath testimonial, augmented by the inclusion of Andy Townsend, Ray Houghton and Tony Cascarino, is due to assemble in Dublin on Saturday. It is still not clear if Denis Irwin and Jason McAteer will be among them.
Meanwhile, John Sheridan, a regular member of Ireland's squad during the golden years, is seeking a new club after being released by Bolton under the terms of the Bosman ruling.
Sheridan, 33 last October, joined Bolton from Sheffield Wednesday in October 1996, and in line with the Bosman judgement became a free agent when his contract expired last Sunday. He was offered a year's extension of his current arrangement with the club by manager Colin Todd but has now decided that his future lies elsewhere.
"I believe I could have done an important job for Bolton next season but I feel it is in the best interests of everybody that I should leave now," he said. "I'm off to Cyprus on a family holiday tomorrow and I expect to start looking around for a new club on my return.
"It hasn't been a great season for me insofar as I didn't manage to shake off a knee injury until January. I only got in for Bolton's last 11 games, five of which we won. But in the end, the club paid for that bad start to their programme.
"Ideally, I'd love to stay in the Premiership for it suits my kind of football. But, realistically, I think I'm looking at playing in the first division next season."
