THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND have suffered yet another Coronavirus outbreak with news that Matt Doherty and James McClean testing positive for the virus. However, Celtic have received a boost with the news that central defender Shane Duffy tested negative.
The FAI confirmed on Twitter that the duo had tested positive but that the rest of the playing and backroom staff returned negative tests.
The Football Association of Ireland can confirm Matt Doherty and James McClean have tested positive for COVID-19
The rest of the staff & squad tested negative ahead of the flight back to Dublin this morning before the match against Bulgaria on Wednesday#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/dyEMhuft8z
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) November 16, 2020
This is the third international break in which the Irish have suffered COVID-19 cases and proves how ridiculous having friendlies in this current climate is. Alan Browne tested positive after the game against England at Wembley and now two more players have tested positive. The EURO 2020 games were played to a conclusion with Scotland sealing qualification but players will be forced to play two more games before returning to hectic club duty. Scotland have to go to Slovakia on Wednesday before going to Israel on Sunday.
Duffy will be hoping to recover his form for Celtic after a slow start to life in Glasgow. The Brighton defender is on loan until the end of the season and can still use his experience and quality to help guide Celtic to 10IAR.
