Ireland confident

Some positive news following the concern that Stephen Ireland could miss the derby:

“I can’t wait for the match and I am confident that I will be fine for Sunday,” insisted Ireland. “The injury was painful on Saturday but the three points soon made that fade. Derby games are great; the nerves before hand, the build up, the fans just everything about them. They are especially good when you win. Gareth Barry’s first question to me was what are the derby games like and my answer to him was that he would not have experienced anything like it in his life.”