Mcgrath off to Azerbaijan and admits he was nearly nicked last time he was there

St Mirren midfielder Jamie Mcgrath will return to Azerbaijan hoping the trip is less eventful than his last visit.

Mcgrath, who could win his fourth senior Republic of Ireland cap in Saturday evening's World Cup qualifier in Baku, lastvisitedthecityasadundalk player for a Champions League qualifier in July 2019, and it provedtestingbothonthepitch - the League of Ireland side lost 3-0 - and off it.

The 25-year-old said with a smile: "I nearly got arrested! Hopefully it's not like that this time.

"I think it was me and (teammate) Sean Gannon at the time, weweredoingmediaforrteat thetimeandwewerebesidethe sea on this boardwalk.

"We were doing an interview to camera and out of nowhere about five policemen came up on this little cart.

"We thought, 'This is a bit strange'. We were looking aroundanditturnsoutwewere the culprits.

"They started speaking and we couldn't understand a word they were saying. They were kind of getting a bit aggressive andwewerelookingaround,we didn'tknowwhatwedidwrong.

"It turns out it was private property that we were doing an interview on."

The misunderstanding was quickly resolved when some English-speaking officers arrived on the scene, and Mcgrath will be looking for a smoothervisitthistimearound.

Ireland arrive in Azerbaijan with their dreams of qualification in tatters after last month's heartbreaking and dramatic 2-1 defeat in Portugal and the 1-1 draws with the Azeris and the Serbs which followed it.

Mcgrath, who played for Ireland boss Stephen Kenny during his spell in charge at Dundalk, discovered he was starting an hour before kick-off in Faro and had helped his team get to within a minute of a famous 1-0 victory before Cristiano Ronaldo turned the tables with two late headers to rob them of one of the biggest moments of their careers.

He said: "It was definitely the highlightofmycareersofar.itis probablygoingtolivelonginthe memory and it's one I'm never going to forget.”

Celtic defender Liam Scales was added to the squad before its departure from Dublin after Swansea'sryanmanninghadto withdraw with an ankle injury.