Damien Duff reveals even his mother fell for the rumour that he was joining St Pat’s

No deal

Damien Duff has long been linked with a move to the SSE Airtricity League and when the former Ireland winger pitched up at St Pat's vs Longford last week it seemed the Duffer had finally made up his mind who he was going to sign for. Not so, but it seems even Mrs Duffer fell for the rumours thinking her son had signed for the Inchicore club without even telling her. It subsequently emerged that Duff, who is currently taking his Uefa B coaching badges, was at Richmond Park completing an assignment as part of the course. "We were obviously there analysing the game, we then had to put a session on today relating to the game," Duff told the FAI. "Longford got pumped 3-0, probably outclassed from start to finish. Unfortunately I got Longford attacking so I had to work on that this morning. If you gave me two hours to do it I'd probably struggle. "My ma was upset. She thought I was signing for Pats and I hadn't told her." Of the coaching course, which he is taking alongside his former Ireland team-mate Stephen Hunt, Duff reckons it's the hardest thing he has done in his professional career. "It's very tough, to be brutally honest. It's possibly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. "I've played against Messi at the Nou Camp, Ronaldo... it was easy playing against them compared to what we have been through this week."