Jon & Roy just fine.. till tonight

JON WALTERS and Roy Keane have ironed out their differences going into the new campaign, Martin O’neill has claimed.

Mirror Sport revealed last month that assistant boss Keane, Walters and Harry Arter were involved in a furious bust-up before the USA game in June. Arter has since made himself unavailable for international selection on the back of it but Walters is here in Cardiff – raring to go.

The striker, 34, has had a chronic lack of games this season but O’neill believes his loan switch to Ipswich from Burnley could be the spark he needs.

And Walters – who has clashed with Keane before – is ready to lead the line for Ireland in this Nations League opener.

O’neill – who becomes the fourth Irish boss to reach 50 games tonight – said: “Jon is getting on a little bit but wants to play. “I think he and Roy are absolutely fine. There’s no problem there... probably until tonight. “That’s a joke – a very poor joke.”

O’neill continued: “You’re right about Jon not playing much football. He hasn’t done that for quite some time at club level.

“He did play the 90 minutes for Ipswich on Sunday and that’ll stand him in good stead.”

While the Nations League is a convoluted concept, the nuts and bolts are that Ireland will be second seeds for the Euro 2020 draw if they finish first or second. Finish bottom of the three team group and it’s third seed status and relegation to the third tier for the next Nations League.