Just a week after his namesake Barry made his debut for Coventry City at Old Trafford, Alan Quinn made his first appearance of the season for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday in the 2-1 defeat away to Wimbledon.

The Dubliner, who came on as a substitute in the under-18 European championship final against Germany in Cyprus during the summer, made his debut for Wednesday last season and benefited from manager Danny Wilson's falling out with Paolo Di Canio by winning a place in the Wednesday midfield for the trip to Selhurst Park.

Barry Quinn held on to his place in the Coventry team that lost 5-1 at home to Newcastle, while his Irish under-18 team-mate Robbie Keane scored his seventh goal in 11 games for Wolves this season, in the 2-1 defeat away to Huddersfield. Keane's attacking partner in that under-18 team, Luton's Liam George, is now likely to miss the rest of the season after breaking his leg and suffering ligament damage against Wigan a fortnight ago. Initially the club hoped he would be back after a couple of months but his injuries proved worse than first feared. Better news for another young Irish player in Britain, defender Barry Prenderville, who has joined Hibernian on a three-month loan from Coventry City. The 21-year-old Dubliner, who has yet to get a taste of first team football at Highfield Road, was Hibs' man-of-the-match in his debut against St Mirren last week, but was on the losing side in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Raith Rovers.