Kevin Doyle: 'James McClean rant brought him closer to squad'

Ireland striker and temporary captain Kevin Doyle has revealed that the saga over James McClean's rant on Twitter has brought him closer to the squad.

McClean has since apologised for the incident and Doyle said that although the squad reprimanded the 23-year-old afterwards, everything is now fine in the camp.

"We found out about it straight away," Doyle said. "We said it to him straight away that it's not acceptable.

"He knew that, he realised. Within minutes he tried to delete it and he's shut down his Twitter. He's massively apologetic.

"We ended up joking about it the following day. It's been fine. It's probably got him integrated into the group a bit more because we've all been taking the piss out of him."

Ireland play Oman in a friendly at Craven Cottage tonight.