Striker Troy Parrott, on loan to MK Dons from Spurs, is in line to start tonight's friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Lithuania at the Aviva Stadium. Ireland's assistant manager Keith Andrews told the media Parrott has been in excellent form in training as the team look to build on Saturday's draw with world number one side Belgium. Also in action tonight, Portugal host North Macedonia in their World Cup playoff final, and Cristiano Ronaldo has urged local fans to make their presence felt at Porto's Dragao stadium. The Portugal talisman has called on supporters to ensure his side do not suffer the same fate as Italy. Poland and Sweden contest another playoff final (both at 7.45pm), with a place at the 2022 World Cup up for grabs.
In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Gerry Thornley explains why it's time to ban the booze during games at the Aviva: "The contrast with the more engaged crowds at the electrifying Stade de France and Twickenham games was particularly stark this season. True, they have capacities of 80,000 and 82,000 respectively, but that doesn't explain why the crowds were less engaged at the Aviva Stadium."
Leinster GAA are contemplating taking the provincial semi-finals out of Croke Park even if Dublin get to that stage. However, Dublin intend to continue staging league matches at Croke Park despite the county footballers getting relegated at the weekend. For the first time since 2008, they will be playing in Division Two of the AFL. A media event scheduled for Tuesday to promote Sunday's Allianz Football League final has been cancelled after players from Kerry and Mayo were pulled due to the continuing stand-off between the Gaelic Players' Association and the GAA over player expenses.
Meanwhile, champion trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed how the families of 20 Ukrainians who work either at the world-renowned training yard or at nearby Coolmore Stud have been flown to Ireland out of their war-torn homeland. It's a perspective to make the magnificent triviality known as racing seem inconsequential although when it comes to the sport's greatest prizes, Ballydoyle continues to pack the weightiest punch of all.
