Martin O’Neill emphatically rules out Ireland return for Damien Delaney

You can probably book that summer holiday now, Damien.

Martin O'Neill has shot down any chance of Damien Delaney making a return for the Republic of Ireland. The Crystal Palace defender has nine caps for his country, but announced his retirement last August. Yet recent reports suggested the Cork native may be prepared to change his mind ahead of Euro 2016. The Ireland manager, who was in Abbottstown on Friday afternoon to announce his provisional squad for the upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia, was asked if he'd spoken to Delaney with a view to him returning to the squad. However, O'Neill replied with an emphatic "No.""I've got six centre-halves. I've got six centre-halves," the Ireland manager said, before going on to name check 24 year old Blackburn Rovers defender Shane Duffy. "There's people here (in the squad) who have done brilliantly for me, who've helped qualify us, and I've got one or two younger lads coming through like Shane Duffy." "Damien's 35," O'Neill said about the 34-year-old Palace defender. "And Shane isn't." That settles that then.