Former Premier League star forced to apologise after aiming insult at Szoboszlai

Legendary Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle was forced to apologise after he appeared to call Dominik Szoboszlai a 'Liverpool ****'.

Doyle was reacting during Ireland's dramatic 3-2 victory over Hungary which kept their World Cup hopes alive.

Former Spurs wonderkid Parrott had equalised in the 80th minute, before he netted a 96th minute winner which secured Heimir Hallgrimsson's side a place in the play-offs.

Parrott's late strike in the winner-takes-all clash completed his hat-trick and sparked dramatic scenes in Budapest and for Irish fans around the world.

The TV studio for RTE Sport, who Doyle was working for, was no different as the former Wolves and Reading striker sprinted around uncontrollably as he celebrated.

He then shouted: 'Suck on that you Liverpool ****.'

It is believed Doyle's x-rated words were directed at Szoboszlai.

Some reports suggested this was sparked by accusations the Liverpool midfielder taunted Irish fans earlier in the game.

However, that didn't appear to be the case. Although Szoboszlai made a gesture after Barnabas Varga had put Hungary 2-1 up at the Puskas Arena, it seemed to be made jokingly towards Hungary's bunch rather than directed at anyone of an Ireland persuasion.

Nevertheless, Ireland's victory meant Hungary cannot reach next summer's tournament.

Following Doyle's outburst, he did quickly add: 'Sorry Didi,' in direction of the former Liverpool star Didi Hamann who was working alongside him.

Hamann played 280 times for Liverpool over seven years between 1999 and 2006.

Szoboszlai's club team-mate Milos Kerkez also played the full 90 minutes of the clash, but it is thought Doyle's insult was directed at the midfielder.

Szoboszlai was later seen in tears when leaving the pitch at full-time.

Ireland will discover their play-off fate this Thursday, with Hallgrimsson's side set to play a semi-final in a single-legged format.

The winner will then reach the play-off final to compete for a place at next year's tournament.

Doyle, 42, won 75 caps for Ireland during his 11-year international career, but they never qualified for a World Cup during that time.

In fact, they haven't been at a World Cup since 2002, although they did qualify for both Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.