Missing...

That was the week that was

Noel Whelan

(Coventry City)

Having demonstrated his versatility by switching from striker to midfield last season, the 22-year-old former Leeds player ought to have doubled his chances of a regular place in Gordon Strachan's side this season. Instead, he has yet to make his first appearance, although he cannot blame football for the injury keeping him out. No stranger to controversy during the last 12 months, Whelen came within a whisker of severing an Achilles tendon when putting his foot through a plate-glass window outside a burger bar in Leamington during a late-night "incident" before the season began.