Round up for week of Monday, 7th May 2018

Monday, 7th May 2018

Scottish Championship Play-Offs

Dundee Utd 2-3 Livingston

Willo Flood was sent off for the first time since August 2007

Tuesday, 8th May 2018

Scottish Premier League

Hamilton Academical 1-2 St Johnstone

David McMillan scored his second goal in two games in what was the striker's first start for St Johnstone

Ross County 0-1 Dundee

Aaron McCarey started his first game since Saturday, 31st March

Wednesday, 9th May 2018

Premier League

Manchester City 3-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Shane Duffy was booked for the first time in a months

Scottish Premier League

Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock

Gary Dicker made his 25th appearance of the season

Polish Ekstraklasa

Lech Poznań 0-2 Jagiellonia Białystok

In his first start since Friday, 1st December, Cillian Sheridan scored his fifth goal of the season - his fourth goal also came in that same game in December

Round Up for weekend of Friday, 17th November 2017

Friday, 17th November 2017

Championship

Burton Albion 1-3 Sheffield United

Samir Carruthers' late introduction from the bench was his first appearance in two months

Preston North End 0-0 Bolton

Andy Boyle was booked for the first time this season

Saturday, 18th November 2017

Premier League

Bournemouth 4-0 Huddersfield

Harry Arter scored his first goal of the season, this was also the 30th goal of the midfielder's career

Burnley 2-0 Swansea

Stephen Ward was booked for the first time this season

Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle Utd

Ciaran Clark returned to the Newcastle starting XI for the first time since 1st October

Championship

Birmingham City 1-0 Nottingham Forest

Stephen Gleeson made his first appearance since Saturday, 26th August

Cardiff 2-0 Brentford

John Egan made his 50th appearance for Brentford

Reading 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Matt Doherty's first goal of the season was also his tenth goal for Wolves, and the 15th goal of his career

Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Bristol City

Callum O'Dowda made his 50th appearance in the Championship

League 1

Bristol Rovers 1-3 AFC Wimbledon

Rory Gaffney made his 50th appearance in League One

Peterborough 0-1 Blackpool

Conor O'Malley made his first appearance in League One

League 2

Grimsby 0-1 Carlisle United

Jack Bonham made his 25th career appearance

Lincoln City 1-2 Coventry

Sean Long was booked for the first time this season

Scottish Premier League

Dundee 0-0 Kilmarnock

Darren O'Dea was sent off for the second time this season, two months after his last red card on Saturday, 16 September. This was fourth red card of his career

Sunday, 19th November 2017

Scottish Premier League

Hearts 1-1 Partick Thistle

Daniel Devine was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Scottish Championship

Dundee United 3-0 Falkirk

Willo Flood scored his first goal since Saturday, 2 September in his 200th start for Dundee United

Round Up - Weekend of 17th March 2017

Friday, 17 March 2017

League 1

Port Vale 2-1 Shrewsbury

Sam Foley scored his first goal of the season, this was the midfielder's first goal in more than a year - he last scored on Saturday, 5 March 2016 against Colchester

Saturday, 18 March 2017

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford

Damien Delaney's appearance off the bench (his first appearance since February 11th) was his 25th appearance of the season

Stoke City 1-2 Chelsea

Jonathan Walters scored his first goal of 2017, 81 days after his last goal on December 27th

Sunderland 0-0 Burnley

John O'Shea, Darron Gibson, Jeff Hendrick and Stephen Ward started this game, making it the first Premier League game this season where four Irish players started the same game
For O'Shea, it was his 200th start for Sunderland

West Ham United 2-3 Leicester City

Darren Randolph made his 25th Premier League appearance

Championship

Blackburn 2-2 Preston North End

Aiden McGeady marked his 25th start for Preston North End with his fifth goal for the club. This was also his fifth goal of the season, the first time the midfielder had managed this since 2012-13 with Spartak Moscow

Wigan 0-2 Aston Villa

Conor Hourihane was booked for the tenth time this season

League 1

Bolton 2-1 Northampton

Brendan Moloney late second half introduction from the bench was his first appearance since November

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Chesterfield

Rory Gaffney scored his 15th goal for the Bristol Rovers in his 25th start of the season

Oxford United 2-1 Scunthorpe

Stephen Dawson made his 150th appearance in League One
Paddy Madden's 70th goal in League One was also his 50th league goal for Scunthorpe

Rochdale 4-1 Gillingham

Conrad Logan returned to the Rochdale starting XI for his first appearance since January 28th

League 2

Luton 1-1 Exeter

Alan Sheehan's yellow card against Exeter was the defender's fifth booking of the season

Plymouth 1-0 Morecambe

Graham Carey's winner was his 25th goal for Plymouth

Stevenage 3-0 Portsmouth

Noel Hunt made his first start of 2017
Eoin Doyle made his 150th start since leaving the League of Ireland

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 2-0 Hearts

Jonathan Hayes' goal was his first strike in a month

Motherwell 1-2 St Johnstone

Joe Shaughnessy made his 150th career appearance

Kilmarnock 1-1 Partick Thistle

Adam Barton made his 25th appearance for Partick Thistle
Conor Sammon scored his fifth goal of the season

Scottish Championship

Raith 2-1 Dundee Utd

Willo Flood made his 25th appearance in the Scottish Championship

Sunday, 19 March 2017

League 2

Notts County 1-0 Barnet

Mark Yeates was sent off for the first time in his career

MLS

Colorado Rapids 2-2 Minessota United

Kevin Doyle made his 50th appearance for Colorado Rapids

Round Up - Weekend of 2nd December 2016

Friday, 2 December 2016

Scottish Championship

Dundee Utd 1-0 Hibernian
Willo Flood was booked for the fifth time this season

Saturday, 3 December 2016

Premier League

Stoke City 2-0 Burnley
Stephen Ward made his 50th appearance for Burnley
Jonathan Walters scored his first goal of the season, this goal made him Stoke City's leading Premier League scorer

Championship

Blackburn 1-1 Huddersfield
Darragh Lenihan's start against Huddersfield was his 50th appearance for Blackburn Rovers

Burton Albion 2-1 Rotherham
Anthony Forde returned to the Rotherham starting XI for his first start since August 16th

Cardiff 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Shane Duffy was booked for the first time in two months

Norwich 5-0 Brentford
Robbie Brady's goal today was the 20th goal of his career, and also his tenth goal in the Championship

Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Preston North End
Alan Browne returned for Preston, in what was the former Cork City midfielder's first apperance since October25th
Eoin Doyle came off the bench for Preston on 80 minutes, scored his first goal since August 23rd on 83 minutes, and was sent off for the first time at Preston (the second time in his career in England) on 90 minutes

Scottish Premier League

St Johnstone 3-0 Inverness CT
Graham Cummins made his 50th appearance for St Johnstone in what was his first appearance since the end of October

English FA Cup

Chesterfield 0-5 Wycombe Wanderers
Jay O'Shea made his 25th appearance of the season

Luton 6-2 Solihull Moors
Glen Rea made his 25th start forLuton

Charlton 0-0 MK Dons
Samir Carruthers made his 100th start for MK Dons

Sunday, 4 December 2016

English FA Cup

Woking 0-3 Accrington Stanley
John O'Sullivan's goal today (his first since September 10th) was the midfielder's first goal in the FA Cup

Port Vale 4-0 Hartlepool
Port Vale's second goal in this cup was unfortunately former St Patrick's Athletic defender Jake Carroll's first own goal in England

Round Up - Weekend of 21st October 2016

Friday, 21 October 2016

Australian A-League

Melbourne City 2-3 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh scored his first hat trick almost exactly two years after his last triple on 19th October 2014.

Saturday, 22 October 2016

Premier League

Burnley 2-1 Everton
Seamus Coleman made his 200th start for Everton
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the first time since the opening game of the season

Championship

Brentford 0-2 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Newcastle Utd 3-0 Ipswich
David McGoldrick came off the bench to make his first appearance since August 9th

Rotherham 0-1 Reading
Paul McShane scored his second of the season, two months after his last goal on 20 August 2016. The defender has now scored more than once in a season for the first time since 2012-13

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Leeds United
Matt Doherty was booked for the first time this season, exactly 200 days after his last yellow card on April 5th

League 1

Bradford City 3-3 Sheffield United
Billy Clarke scored his fifth goal of the season

MK Dons 0-3 Southend United
Simon Cox's scored his third of the season, two months after his last strike on August 20th
Darren Potter was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Scottish Championship

Dundee Utd 2-1 Dumbarton
Willo Flood picked up his fourth booking of the season, his first since August 20th

Round Up - Weekend of 20th August 2016

Saturday, 20 August 2016
Championship
Fulham 2-2 Cardiff
Anthony Pilkington scored his first goal of the season

Nottingham Forest 4-3 Wigan
Stephen Henderson's booking this afternoon was his first yellow card since December 2015

Reading 2-2 Brighton and Hove Albion
Paul McShane's equaliser for Reading was his first goal since February

Derby County 0-0 Aston Villa
Richard Keogh was booked for the first time this season

League 1
Millwall 2-1 Sheffield United
Shaun Williams' strike for Millwall today was the midfielder's first goal since December 2015

Rochdale 0-1 MK Dons
Conrad Logan marked his second debut for Rochdale with a penalty save

Southend United 1-1 Bristol Rovers
Simon Cox's booking today was his first booking in more than a year. Previous to this, the striker hadn't been booked since 8th August 2015

League2
Plymouth 2-0 Mansfield Town
Connor Smith made his 25th career start
Graham Carey opened his goalscoring account for the season with the first brace of his career

Portsmouth 2-0 Colchester
Adam Barton made his 25th appearance for Portsmouth

Scottish First Division 
Dundee Utd 3-0 Ayr
Willo Flood scored his first goal since 2 April 2014

Sunday, 21 August 2016
Premier League
West Ham United 1-0 Bournemouth
Harry Arter was sent off for the third time in his career, his last red card came Saturday, 5 April 2014

Round Up - Weekend of 6th August 2016

Saturday, 6 August 2016
Championship
Blackburn 1-4 Norwich
On the opening day of the Championship season, Darragh Lenihan made his twenty-fifth start for Blackburn Rovers in the same game that compatriots Anthony Stokes and Jack Byrne made their debuts for the club, Stokes marking the occasion with a goal
For the opposition, Wes Hoolahan scored for Norwich for the first time since February

Bristol City 2-1 Wigan
Having moved to Bristol in the summer, Callum O'Dowda started for them in their first game of the season

Huddersfield 2-1 Brentford
O'Dowda's fellow summer transfer John Egan made his first appearance for his new club Brentford

Ipswich 4-2 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane opened his account in the Championship in his first appearance in the competition

Nottingham Forest 4-3 Burton Albion
Stephen Henderson benefitted from the injury to de Vries in the first half, and came off the bench to made his first appearance for the Forest in their home win on the first day of the season. It was the netminder's first senior appearance since February

Reading 1-0 Preston North End
Alan Browne's booking on the first day of 2016/17 was his first yellow card since February

Rotherham 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Anthony Forde assisted both of Rotherham's goals in his first appearance for the Millers, against his first club in England

League 1
Bradford City 0-0 Port Vale
Colin Doyle made his first appearance for Bradford after sigining for them for just £1

Bury 2-0 Charlton
Kevin Foley made his first appearance for Charlton after signing a short term deal with them last week

Millwall 3-0 Oldham
Shaun Williams made his one hundredth appearance for Milwall
Paul Green made his first appearance for Oldham
Aiden O'Brien scored his first goal of the season

Northampton 1-1 Fleetwood
Jimmy Ryan made his fiftieth appearance for Fleetwood, strangely all of the winger's appearances have been starts!

Rochdale 2-3 Peterborough
Chris Forrester's goal against Rochdale was the former St Patrick's Athletic player's first goal since 3rd October 2015

Scunthorpe 3-1 Bristol Rovers
Stephen Dawson made his twenty-fifth start for Scunthorpe, in the same game that former Limerick FC striker Rory Gaffney made his twenty-fifth appearance for Bristol Rovers

Shrewsbury 0-1 MK Dons
Gary Deegan's start against MK Dons was the midfielder's 150th career appearance

Southend United 1-3 Gillingham
Simon Cox made his first appearance for Southend and assisted Stephen McLaughlin's strike
Mark Byrne made his first appearance for Gillingham after moving in preseason
Emmanuel Osadebe's start for the Gills was his first start since 27th February against Chesterfield, and scored his first goal since the same game
Stephen McLaughlin scored his fifth goal since moving to England, 10 months after his last goal in October 2015

League 2 
Blackpool 2-0 Exeter
After moving to Exeter in the summer, Pierce Sweeney made his senior career debut for the Grecians.
Liam McAlinden came off the bench to make his first appearance for Exeter

Cambridge United 1-1 Barnet
Sean Long made his first appearance for Cambridge, this was the defender's first senior appearance since December 2015

Crawley 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers
James Collins made his first appearance for Crawley
Mark Crawley made his first appearance since December 2015, after returning to Crawley following a two year spell in Scotland

Grimsby 2-0 Morecambe
After moving to Grimsby in June, James Berrett made his first appearance for the club

Hartlepool 1-1 Colchester
Following his remarkable scoring record at Grimsby last season, Padraig Amond made his first appearance for Hartlepool

Newport Co. 2-3 Mansfield Town
Patrick Hoban made his first appearance for Mansfield as a late substitute, this was the striker's first appearance since February

Portsmouth 1-1 Carlisle United
David Forde made his first appearance for Portsmouth since signing for them on loan, the goalkeeper's first start since January
Michael Doyle made his fiftieth start for Portsmouth After signing for Portsmouth on a short term deal, Noel Hunt made his first appearance for the club - the striker's first appearance in League Two
Jamie Devitt unfortunately marked his first appearance for Carlisle with the third sending off of his career, his last red card came in October 2014

Yeovil 2-0 Notts County
Kevin Dawson scored his first goal in two years, having not scored since August 2014

Scottish First Division
Dundee Utd 1-1 Queen of the South
In his fourth spell at Dundee, Willo Flood made his one hundred fiftieth start for the club

Sunday, 7 August 2016
Championship
QPR 3-0 Leeds United
U19 midfielder Olamide Shodipo made his first career appearance for QPR

Scottish Premier League
Hearts 1-2 Celtic
Despite the league season only just starting, Conor Sammon picked up his second booking of the season, having already been booked during Hearts' Europa League campaign

2016/17 - The Season So Far

With the English and Scottish domestic seasons about to kick off, some people may not realise that there have been some Irish players already involved with their clubs in the early rounds of European competition. We've reviewed the appearance data so far for the first of the 2016/17 season reports for these players, as well as the Irish players lining out for their respective clubs in MLS

Thursday, 30 June 2016
UEFA Cup
Banants 0-1 Omonia Nicosia
Cillian Sheridan started Omonia's first game of the new season

Aberdeen 3-1 Fola Esch
Willo Flood, Jonathan Hayes and Adam Rooney all lined out for Aberdeen's season opener against Fola Esch, and Rooney marked the occasion with a goal

Hearts 2-1 Infonet
Having moved to Hearts in the close season, Conor Sammon made his first start for the Tynecastle side, and marked the occasion with a booking - his first yellow since January

Tuesday, 5 July 2016
MLS
LA Galaxy 2-0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Robbie Keane marked his return to the Galaxy after Euro 2016 with a goal, his first since a brace against New England Revolution two months earlier

Thursday, 7 July 2016
UEFA Cup
Fola Esch 1-0 Aberdeen
After signing for the Dons from Burton Albion, Anthony O'Connor made his first start for the club in the return leg against Fola Esch
In what would be his last appearance for Aberdeen, Willo Flood was shown his first yellow card of the season

Omonia Nicosia 4-1 Banants
Cillian Sheridan was booked for the first time since January

Friday, 15 July 2016
Scottish League Cup
Airdrie Utd 0-1 Partick Thistle
After signing a contract with Airdrie in January, Joe Gorman made his first appearance for the club, in the same game Daniel Devine made his first start for his new side Partick Thistle

Cove Rangers 1-2 Raith
Following a short trial, Joel Coustrain signed for Raith and made his senior career debut a day later in this game

Saturday, 16 July 2016
Scottish League Cup
Cowdenbeath 1-2 Inverness CT
After leaving QPR for Inverness, Jake Mulraney made his first appearance for the club

Motherwell 0-2 Rangers
Carl McHugh made his first appearance for Mothwerwell and was booked

Thursday, 21 July 2016
UEFA Cup
Ventspils 0-1 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney scored his sixtieth goal for the club, and his tenth goal in European competition

Omonia Nicosia 3-2 Beitar Jerusalem
Cillian Sheridan scored his fifth goal in the Europa League

Hearts 1-2 Birkirkara
Conor Sammon's first goal for Hearts was also his first goal in the Europa League and his fiftieth goal since leaving the League of Ireland

Saturday, 23 July 2016
Scottish League Cup
Dundee 6-2 Dumbarton
Darren O'Dea scored his first goal for Dundee

Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Scottish League Cup
Peterhead 2-1 Dundee
Fiacre Kelleher made his first career start, after signing for Peterhead on a one month loan from Celtic

Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Champions League
Astana 1-1 Celtic
Eoghan O'Connell made his first since September 2015

Saturday, 30 July 2016
Scottish League Cup
Dundee 7-0 Forfar
Darren O'Dea made his two hundredth career start

Ross County 7-0 Cove Rangers
Aaron McCarey made his first appearance for Ross County, this was the goalkeeper's first appearance since October 2015

Wednesday, 3 August 2016
Champions League
Celtic 2-1 Astana
Eoghan O'Connell picked up his first booking since September 2015

Thursday, 4 August 2016
UEFA Cup
NK Maribor 1-0 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney made his two hundred fiftieth career start

West Ham United 3-0 Domzale
Darren Randolph made his first appearance of the season for West Ham in their first home game in the Olympic Stadium

May 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for May 2016

Wins
Shane Long and Anthony Stokes both finished 2016/16 with three wins in the last month of the season

Draws
Robbie Keane and James McClean's started two draws in May

Losses
Aberdeen teammates Willo Flood and Jonathan Hayes started three losses as the Don's title challenge petered out

Starts/Completed Games
Stokes started and completed all six of Hibernian's games in May, two more than any other player

Substitutions/Introductions
Flood was also substituted in two of hid games, as many as fellow midfielder Josh Cullen and striker Connor Smith, while striker Richie Foran was introduced three times for Inverness

Stayed On Bench
Due to a reduced number of games in May, defender Aidan White has the rare distinction of being an outfield player left on the bench more than a goalkeeper - three times in total

Goals
Strikers Keane, Stokes, Graham Cummins and defender Daniel Devine all scored twice in May while Foran and David McGoldrick were the only players to score a penalty. For each of the top scorers, their respective teams went on to win when they scored, except for Cummins who won one and drew one of the games where he scored

Discipline
Stokes was also the only player to be shown more than one yellow card, the on loan striker was booked twice in May

Round Up - Weekend of 7th May 2015

Saturday, 7 May 2016
Premier League
Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle Utd
Ciaran Clark was booked for the seventh time this season, this was the Villa defender's first booking since 1st March

Crystal Palace 2-1 Stoke City
Stephen Ireland came off the bench for his first appearance since 2nd April, and was booked for the second time in 2015/16 - his first yellow card since 2nd February
Glenn Whelan was booked for the eighth time this season, but only his second time in 2016

Bournemouth 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Harry Arter was booked for the seventh time this season, his first booking since 13th February

Championship
Blackburn 3-1 Reading
Josh Barrett made the first start of his career for Reading in this loss

Cardiff 1-1 Birmingham City
Anthony Pilkington scored his tenth goal for Cardiff, more than two months after his last goal at the end of February

Derby County 0-1 Ipswich
Adam McDonnell's first league start for Ipswich (he started a League Cup game in August) was marred slightly by his first booking of his career!
David McGoldrick scored his fifth goal of the season, and his second in two games

Huddersfield 1-5 Brentford
Sean Scannell returned to the Huddersfield starting XI for his first start in two months

Hull City 5-1 Rotherham
Lee Frecklington's fifth goal of the season (his first in a month) was the only consolation for Rotherham in this heavy loss to Hull

League 2
AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Newport Co.
Ryan Sweeney's started this afternoon for AFC Wimbledon was his first appearance for the Dons since the end of March

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Dagenham and Redbridge
Jack Connors came off the bench at half time for his first appearance since 9th January

Morecambe 1-1 York City
After scoring last week, Kenneth McEvoy made his first start for York City since 5th March
Jamie Devitt scored his seventh goal of the season, almost two months after his last goal on 12th March

Oxford United 3-0 Wycombe Wanderers
In his fiftieth appearance of the season, Callum O'Dowda scored his tenth goal of the season

Portsmouth 1-2 Northampton
Brian Murphy made his twenty-fifth appearance for Porthsmouth
After signing for Pompey on loan in March, Conor Wilkinson made his first appearance for them, this was also his 25th appearance of the season that's included loan spells at Barnsley and Newport County
James Collins came off the bench late on to score the winner - his 15th goal of the season that includes eight for parent club Shrewsbury

Sunday, 8 May 2016
Premier League
Tottenham 1-2 Southampton
Shane Long was booked for the third time this season, having not been booked before this game since 9th January

League 1
Bury 3-2 Southend United
David Mooney scored his eighth of the season, his first goal since mid February, and also received his first booking this year - his last booking came on 28 December

Gillingham 1-2 Millwall
Aiden O'Brien scored his 15th goal for Millwall (his 10th in the league this season) in his 50th start for the club
John Egan scored his tenth goal in League One

Port Vale 0-5 Walsall
Sam Foley made his fiftieth appearance of the season, all for Port Vale. The second goal of Anthony Forde's brace (the first of his career) was his fifth goal of the season

Sheffield United 0-2 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden scored his 70th goal since moving to England in his 51st appearance this season!

Wigan 1-4 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane scored his 25th goal for Barnsley in his 50th appearance of the season
Chris McCann was sent off for the second time in his career (both for Wigan), two and a half years after his last red card in December 2013

Scottish Premier League
Celtic 3-2 Aberdeen
Willo Flood made his 100th appearance for Aberdeen

MLS
LA Galaxy 4-2 New England Revolution
Robbie Keane marked his return to the LA Galaxy side with his fourth goal in his last six games for the Galaxy

Further Reading
Roy Keane interview - ESPN Radio
'It's not a decision I can make, I just have to keep scoring' - the42.ie
AFC Bournemouth: Harry Arter promises to be 'more professional' with injuries after rushing March comeback - Bournemouth Daily Echo

Round Up - Weekend of 26th February 2016

Friday, 26 February 2016
League 1
Port Vale 3-1 Southend United
Cian Bolger made his fiftieth appearance for Southend United

Australian A-League
Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh scored his twentieth goal for Perth Glory from the penalty spot to equalise shortly after Wanderers had taken the lead, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to earn his side anything from the tie

Saturday, 27 February 2016
Premier League
Stoke City 2-1 Aston Villa
Glenn Whelan made his two hundred fiftieth start for Stoke City

Watford 0-0 Bournemouth
Harry Arter made his two hundredth appearance for Bournemouth

Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Shane Long scored his tenth goal of the season

Championship
Blackburn 3-2 MK Dons
Samir Carruthers made his one hundredth appearance for MK Dons, and marked the occasion with his first goal of the season. This was the fifth goal of the midfielder's career, coming almost a year since his last goal in April 2015!

Bolton 1-2 Burnley
Stephen Ward made his twenty-fifth appearance for Burnley

Cardiff 2-1 Preston North End
Alan Browne made his fiftieth start for Preston, and unfortunately picked up his fourth booking of the season.
Anthony Pilkington's two penalties today (his seventh and eighth of the season, and third in his last three games) makes him the third player to manage the feat this season, after Robbie Keane in July and Cillian Sheridan in August

Rotherham 2-1 Brentford
Lee Frecklington returned from injury to start his game since 2nd January, along with Leon Best who made his first start for Rotherham in more than three months

League 1
Gillingham 1-2 Chesterfield
Emmanuel Osadebe's scored his second of the season, more than three months after his last goal on 14th November

League 2
AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Oxford United
Callum O'Dowda made his fiftieth start for Oxford in this win

Accrington Stanley 2-2 Barnet
Seamus Conneely made his fiftieth appearance for Accrington today

Leyton Orient 2-0 Crawley
Shamir Goodwin made his twenty-fifth career appearance as a second half substitute for Crawley Town

Newport Co. 1-0 Mansfield Town
Mark Byrne was booked for the fifth time this season

Plymouth 1-0 Notts County
Graham Carey scored the twenty-fifth goal of his career in England and Scotland, more than three months after his last goal for Plymouth

Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 1-1 St Johnstone
Willo Flood returned to the Aberdeen starting XI with his first appearance for the Dons since 9th January

Cypriot Premier League
Enosis 1-4 Omonia Nicosia
Cillian Sheridan scored his tenth league goal of the season, with three more in the Europa League, more than a month since his last goal for Omonia Nicosia

Eredivisie
SC Cambuur 1-0 PEC Zwolle
Jack Byrne scored his second of the season. Coincidentally, his last goal came in Cambuur's last win on Sunday, 20th December

Further Reading
Sonny Pike on life as a football prodigy: ‘At 17 my head was finished. I was suicidal’ - The Guardian
Why Wes Hoolahan is more effective than Alexis Sanchez, and 11 other interesting stats - FourFourTwo

Victims XI?

A recent article on joe.ie asserted that Birmingham City midfielder Stephen Gleeson is the real victim of Martin O'Neill's approach to squad selection. The former Wolves trainee is currently sitting in sixth in the Championship, ahead of senior international squad members Anthony Pilkington(ninth with Cardiff City) and Paul Green(24th with Rotherham) among others, but has yet to be called up by the manager. With this in mind, we analysed the appearance data for this season of players in England, Scotland and the USA to see if a starting XI of players who have not been capped by the manager since his appointment can be produced.

Goalkeeper 

While we're informally sticking to players who have at least ten appearances so far in 2015/16, we're bending the rules to include Charlton's Stephen Henderson between the sticks. Falkirk's on loan keeper Danny Rogers has made 16 appearances to Henderson's two starts since returning from shoulder surgery, but with Rogers currently in the U21 squad, Stephen lines out to continue the family legacy of his grandfather Paddy and uncle Wayne with international caps for Ireland.

Defence

Bristol City's Derrick Williams starts at left full for our side, the Championship defender is a graduate of Aston Villa's academy and has started all but three of the Robins' games so far.
Matt Doherty fills the right back slot in the team. The Wolverhampton Wanderers defender has appeared in 11 of their 17 games this season.
The Scottish Premier League provides both centre halves. Daniel Devine*, of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and St Johnstone's Joe Shaughnessy are partners in central defence. Both players have European experience this season, playing against AFC Astra of Romania, and Alashkert FC of Armenia in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup.

Midfield

At left wing, Huddersfield's Sean Scannell provides both a goal threat and a creative spark. The winger only has one assist this season and has yet to find the back of the net, but finished 2014/15 with seven assists and four goals.
On the opposite wing, Aberdeen's Willo Flood fulfills the promise shown after breaking through at Manchester City and joins Glenn Whelan and Stephen Elliott as former Blues trainees with senior Republic of Ireland caps.
We agree with with joe.ie that Stephen Gleeson should start in midfield, and have paired him with Alan McCormack. The Brentford midfielder plays a little deeper than Gleeson, but still has a pair of assists this season.

Strikers

Up front, Cardiff City's Joe Mason and St Johnstone's Graham Cummins are the only uncapped strikers available to Martin O'Neill. Mason has scored five times for the Bluebirds this season, while Cummins has six goals in Scotland, and also provided four assists.

Below is the data used to pick the side, what players would you have picked in favour of the XI assembled here?

Player	Age	Position	Starts	Intro	Apps	Goals
Jonathan Hayes	28	Midfielder	18	0	18	1
Joe Shaughnessy	23	Defender	17	0	17	1
Daniel Devine	23	Defender	17	0	17	1
Stephen Gleeson	27	Midfielder	16	0	16	2
Graham Cummins	27	Striker	12	4	16	6
Danny Rogers	21	Goalkeeper	16	0	16	0
Derrick Williams	22	Defender	12	3	15	1
Jonathan Douglas	33	Midfielder	12	2	14	0
Alan McCormack	31	Midfielder	12	2	14	0
Joe Mason	24	Striker	14	0	14	5
Alan Browne	20	Midfielder	9	5	14	1
Willo Flood	30	Midfielder	8	5	13	0
Samir Carruthers	22	Midfielder	9	4	13	0
Sean Scannell	25	Midfielder	11	0	11	0
Matt Doherty	23	Defender	6	5	11	0
Aidan White	24	Defender	4	6	10	0
Conor Wilkinson	20	Midfielder	3	7	10	1

*Daniel Devine has underage caps for Northern Ireland, and declared for the Republic of Ireland in May 2011