Grealish had accused Quinn of calling him a ‘fake Paddy’ recently.
Stephen Quinn says he’ll apologise to Jack Grealish the next time they meet after the 19-year-old revealed he was dubbed a ‘fake Paddy’ by the former Sheffield United player before the international break.
Quinn denies saying anything to the youngster but admits that Grealish did end up on the wrong side of one of his tackles.
“I actually didn’t know Jack was available for Ireland but he ended up on the wrong end of one of my tackles. I’ll have to apologise to him when I see him next. That was it,” the Irish Independent reports him as saying.
Grealish, who qualifies to play for Ireland through the parentage ruled, joked last week that he had taken some verbal abuse from Quinn.
“He called me a Fake Paddy,” Grealish said. “That’s what I have to expect though now. Football banter can be like that and I’m not a kid anymore so there’s no problem.”
Quinn insists he didn’t know Grealish qualified to play for Ireland when they met, before adding that he has no problem with players representing his country due to their ancestry.
“No. I actually didn’t realise he was Irish at the time so I better apologise to him.”
He added: “(Playing for an adopted country) is a part of football. There aren’t many players out there. You’ve got to adapt but if it makes our team better, it’s just healthy competition.”
