English-born Paul Green qualifies to play international football for the Republic of Ireland through a grandparent. His performances for Derby County FC in the English Championship earned the midfielder a place in Giovanni Trapattoni's team for the opening four matches of the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaign.

• Made a successful start to his career with Doncaster Rovers FC, winning two successive promotions, from the non-league Conference to League One (third tier), in 2002/03 and 2003/04.

• Remained with the Yorkshire club for four more seasons, all of them in League One, and departed in style after a promotion play-off victory over Leeds United AFC at Wembley.

• Scored 33 goals in 277 appearances for Doncaster before joining Derby on a three-year contract in 2008.

• Established himself straight away as a key figure in the Derby midfield and was rewarded with his first international cap in a friendly at home to Paraguay on 25 May 2010; three days later he scored his first goal for Ireland in a 3-0 win over Algeria and was selected to start each of the first four UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers.

• His 2010/11 season was cut short when he sustained serious knee ligament damage while playing for Derby in early April 2011; he did not return to action until mid-November, thus missing the closing stages of Ireland's successful UEFA EURO 2012 campaign.