With Ciaran Clark suffering at Villa - tonight he featured in a Villa side which lost to their own U-21 team - the news that Damien Delaney had made himself available for Ireland selection caused our ears to perk up once more.
Damien Delaney never officially retired from international football. He 'effectively retired' but nowhere in that Instagram statement did he say it was all over for him. He did say that 'at the age of 34 the future of Irish football does not lie with me' but we won't hammer him over that.
Instead we'll look at the reality of the situation and state that, for all the criticism he may be getting for 'turning his back on his country', Martin O'Neill needs to go to the Crystal Palace man, see where the situation lies and get him in the squad for the games against Switzerland and Slovakia next month.
At 34, the Corkman has the grand total of nine caps to his name. For someone who's played regularly in the Premier League and the Championship over the past decade, that's incredibly low.
The evidence of his club form suggests Delaney is more deserving of a place than Shane Duffy and even Ciaran Clark.
Below is our updated Euro 2016 squad based on Delaney's flirtation with the Irish management.
