Irish Abroad - 13/01/13

It was a weekend to forget for Jon Walters

It's been a mixed weekend for Irish internationals and prospects across the water. Jonathan Walters was in the headlines for the wrong reasons - two own goals and a missed penalty capped a miserable day for Stoke as they crashed 4-0 at home to Chelsea. Glenn Whelan also played for the Potters. On the upside, Marc Wilson is due to return from a leg break in the coming weeks; he will be confident of regaining the left-back slot on his return, as Andy Wilkinson had a poor game in his stead.

Own goals aside, James McClean was the only Irish goalscorer in the EPL yesterday, capping a welcome return to form with Sunderland's third in a 3-0 win over West Ham - his second of the season. O'Shea played at centre-back, while Joey O'Brien missed out for West Ham with an injury. O'Brien's form this season has been rewarded with a new three-and-a-half year contract for the Hammers - a fine achievement for the 26-year-old, bearing in mind that injury almost forced him into retirement a couple of years ago.

Enda Stevens and Ciaran Clark started for Aston Villa against Southampton, with mercurial exile Stephen Ireland again on the bench. Clark received praise for his performance, despite being on the losing side. Stephen Kelly's move to Reading came too late to be involved against West Brom, but Alex Pearce and Ian Harte started for the Berkshire side. Shane Long was a late withdrawal from the WBA side. Regulars Seamus Coleman, Damien Duff, James McCarthy, Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington brought the number of Irish EPL starters this weekend to thirteen.

Paddy Madden

As usual, there were plenty of Irish starters in the Championship. Keith Andrews and Andy Keogh traded penalties in Bolton's draw with Millwall.U-21 midfielder Jeff Hendrick scored for Derby in their defeat to Brighton - young centre-back Mark O'Brien also started. David Meyler and Robbie Brady made their first appearances for Hull since their permanent transfers - worryingly, neither made an impression in their defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. The out-of-form Kevin Doyle and Stephen Ward played for Wolves against Blackburn on Friday night, while Andy Reid and Simon Cox featured for Nottingham Forest. Further down the divisions, former Bohemians and Ireland U-21 striker Paddy Madden - known to LOI fans as 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' - bagged two goals for Yeovil, bringing his season's tally to eleven in League One.