Relief for Derry City player Jamie McDonagh, who can now concentrate on his football after son's recent health scare

Derry City player Jamie McDonagh has admitted that the past few weeks have been difficult after his two-year-old son was rushed to hospital unexpectedly just days before the recent game against Dundalk at the Brandywell. In the days building up to the game against the Lilywhites, McDonagh’s boy Layton was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery. Despite that, and despite missing training that week, McDonagh still played against Dundalk on the Friday night, which earned him the praise of manager Kenny Shiels afterwards. But just a few weeks after the operation, McDonagh has revealed that his son is back to his best. “It was a bit hard when it happened a couple of weeks ago because I was in hospital that week and I didn’t train,” McDonagh reflected. “Kenny asked me to play after my wee boy had just got out of hospital the day before. It’s a good thing that the manager asked me to play because it showed that he trusts me to play so I showed him that trust back. The wee man is doing well. He’s running around as if nothing had happened to him so everything is looking good and hopefully it stays that way.”