Gibson shines for Republic

Manchester United teenager Darron Gibson shrugged off the recent controversy over his national eligibility by helping the Republic of Ireland hammer Denmark in Aarhus.

Gibson emerged as a half-time substitute to show he had not been affected by claims he would commit himself to Northern Ireland, for whom he played at under-16 level.

With his first touch, Gibson rattled a shot which rebounded for Shane Long to knock in Ireland's third in a 4-0 win, and assistant boss Kevin MacDonald said: "I don't think it really affected him. He is quite a level-headed young man and hopefully he will keep progressing."

Gibson was one of a number of fringe players who did no harm to their chances of being named in next week's squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifying double-header in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Boss Steve Staunton was forced to name an experimental midfield due to the absences of the likes of Lee Carsley and Stephen Ireland, but the replacements all shone.

Robbie Keane took his international tally to 31 with a well-taken first-half brace while Reading man Long completed the rout with a double after the break.

MacDonald added: "It is a tremendous boost to go to Slovakia and the Czech Republic with. If you were marking all the players, they would all have scored seven or above out of 10."

But MacDonald admitted the result might not have been so emphatic had the Danes made the most of their early chances, in particular the first-minute corner which was spilled by goalkeeper Wayne Henderson.

Then Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner headed against the underside of the crossbar and Jon Dahl Tomasson saw his low shot from inside the box well saved by Henderson.

"We are delighted to have won 4-0 away from home but it might have been different if they hadn't hit the bar and Wayne hadn't made some good saves at 0-0," added MacDonald.