LAST UPDATE | 8 Jan 2021
Adam McDonnell
- BOREHAM WOOD (National League, 11th) v Millwall (Championship, 17th)
- Saturday, 12pm
Boreham Wood, one of four non-league sides who remain in this season’s FA Cup, could have Dubliner Adam McDonnell in midfield when they host Millwall.
The 23-year-old has been plying his trade in England since he joined Ipswich Town from Shelbourne in 2014. A former Ireland youth international, McDonnell is in his second season with Boreham Wood.
Ian Lawlor
- OLDHAM ATHLETIC (League Two, 14th) v Bournemouth (Championship, 3rd)
- Saturday, 3pm
Lawlor has been Oldham’s first-choice goalkeeper since manager Harry Kewell signed him on a season-long loan from Doncaster Rovers in August. He has started in all but one of the 26 games played by the club in all competitions so far this season.
The 26-year-old Dubliner, who began his professional career at Manchester City, was capped by Ireland up to U21 level. He was twice called up to the senior squad during Martin O’Neill’s tenure as manager.
Josh Barrett
- BRISTOL ROVERS (League One, 18th) v Sheffield United (Premier League, 20th)
- Saturday, 3pm
A hamstring injury sustained during pre-season has limited Barrett’s involvement this season, but the 22-year-old attacking midfielder will be itching to feature against Premier League opposition after returning to action recently.
Oxford-born Barrett, who joined Bristol Rovers from Reading last January, has three Ireland U21 caps, two of which he earned under Stephen Kenny at the Toulon Tournament in the summer of 2019.
Richard Keogh, Warren O’Hora & Joe Mason
- Burnley (Premier League, 16th) v MK DONS (League One, 16th)
- Saturday, 3pm
Keogh and O’Hora have frequently found themselves together at the centre of the MK Dons defence this season, while 29-year-old forward Mason – an English-born former Ireland U21 international – has featured mostly from the bench.
Last capped at senior level by Ireland in the European Championship qualifier against Switzerland in 2019, Keogh returned to competitive football in September after being sidelined for a year as a result of the knee injury he sustained in a car crash following a night-out with team-mates, which led to the 34-year-old’s sacking at Derby County.
O’Hora, a 21-year-old former Bohemians player, is on a season-long from Brighton & Hove Albion, where he was named Young Player of the Year for 2019-20.
Pierce Sweeney
- EXETER CITY (League Two, 10th) v Sheffield Wednesday (Championship, 21st)
- Saturday, 3pm
Now in his fifth season in Exeter, the former Ireland U21 full-back is closing in on his 200th appearance for a club he joined from Reading in 2016.
The 26-year-old former Bray Wanderers player has helped his side to reach three of the last four League Two play-off finals, but the Grecians have suffered defeat at Wembley on each occasion.
John O’Sullivan & Liam McAlinden
- Chelsea (Premier League, 9th) v MORECAMBE (League Two, 7th)
- Sunday, 1.30pm
This pair of former Ireland U21 internationals will be aiming to upset a team who sit 66 places above them on the English football ladder when they travel to Stamford Bridge.
O’Sullivan, a 27-year-old midfielder from Dublin who began his professional career at Blackburn Rovers, is back in contention for Morecambe after recovering from Covid-19. Ex-Wolves striker McAlinden, 27, has featured mostly as a substitute this season.
Padraig Amond & Jamie Devitt
- NEWPORT COUNTY (League Two, 2nd) v Brighton & Hove Albion (Premier League, 17th)
- Sunday, 7.45pm
Newport County will put their promotion bid on hold to try and cause another FA Cup upset when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Wales on Sunday evening.
Carlow striker Padraig Amond, 32, has been central to many of the club’s most memorable occasions in recent years by finding the net against the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Middlesbrough.
Fellow ex-Ireland U21 international Devitt, a 30-year-old midfielder from Dublin, has made 10 appearances for County this season since joining on loan from Blackpool.
