Aston Villa tackling machine gets his start as FOURTEEN active Ireland internationals start in top two tiers

No sign of Shay Given, Jon Walters, Seamus Coleman or even Aiden McGeady.

Thank the god of raised studs then for Kevin Toner - the combative Meath defender getting his first Premier League start for doomed Aston Villa away to Watford. The early signs are promising for the teenager, who was praised by caretaker manager Eric Black, and starts in the centre of defence alongside Ciaran Clark. https://twitter.com/adambath25/status/719619117662121984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw However he is a rare bright spot on a pretty dreary day for the Republic of Ireland. A combination of injuries, lack of form and whatever other excuses you're having means, that in the 3pm kick-offs in the top two tiers of English football, there are only 14 Republic of Ireland internationals starting for their clubs. There are Irish internationals playing in 9 of the 13 fixtures (if you exclude Crystal Palace's "retired" captain Damien Delaney) in the Premier League and Championship. Injuries to Marc Wilson and Given, plus the continued rotation of Walters, mean Glenn Whelan is the only Irishman on the pitch at the Britannica Bet 365 Stadium as birthday boy John O'Shea is also left out by visitors Sunderland. https://twitter.com/stokecity/status/726395787945611264 Meanwhile Coleman's continued absence means James McCarthy, Darron Gibson and Harry Arter fly the flag at Goodison Park for the meeting of Everton and  Bournemouth. Elsewhere James McClean starts as normal for West Brom against West Ham United. https://twitter.com/swfc/status/726395782518202369/photo/1 In the Championship we have Alex Pearce (Bristol City), David McGoldrick (Ipswich), Matt Doherty (Wolves), Paul McShane and Stephen Quinn (Reading), Shane Duffy (Blackburn) and Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday and Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff) at Hillsborough, when McGeady is conspicuous in his absence.