Among those to depart early from the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night was Scott Hogan. The Aston Villa striker, yet to be capped by Martin O'Neill, fell ill during that craggy second-half in Dublin, and reportedly missed the end of the game as he complained of stomach cramps. He was brought to the Mater Hospital to undergo surgery to alleviate a blockage in his bowel. The Irish Sun report that cramps assailing Hogan were extremely painful, and the nature of the illness "extremely rare".
Ahead of this weekend's game with QPR, Steve Bruce briefed the media on the injury, saying that he expects Hogan to miss at least a month of action.
We don’t think that is going to be months but it will be a few weeks. He was bad after the Ireland game and was operated on in the early hours of the morning on a blockage in his bowel.
This is the latest setback in Hogan's Villa career. Having been prolific at Brentford (Scoring 21 league goals in 33 appearances) he signed for Villa in January, but has struggled for both goals and fitness since. An ankle injury led to a relatively lengthy absence, and he has scored just a single league goal for the club since arriving.
Having flirted with declaring for England, Hogan decided to chuck his lot in with Ireland in September, having been selected in Martin O'Neill's squad for the double-header with Moldova and Wales. He sat on the bench in both games, as he did in both legs against Denmark, meaning his first cap will likely come in an international friendly next March, as we begin the infernal wait for an Irish game that matters.
