James McClean addresses claim he refused to speak in press room after first match back in Ireland

James McClean has taken to social media following his Derry City return on Saturday.

The former Republic of Ireland international helped his hometown club win the President’s Cup against Shamrock Rovers.

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McClean set up Darragh Markey for the only goal of the match as Derry clinched the Irish version of the Super Cup.

However, the 36-year-old was forced to respond to speculation surrounding his post-match media duties after the final whistle.

Reports emerged on social media following the match that McClean had refused to speak in the press room.

As a result, he reshared one such post to his Instagram story which alleged he had taken objection to the presence of a particular reporter.

It was also claimed McClean had only given interviews to the media from Derry.

The midfielder has now provided his own explanation, revealing his decision related to an incident in 2017 after a World Cup qualifier against Austria.

McClean explains press room incident

Alongside the original post, he wrote: “Let’s clear this up, because people love posting news without the facts behind it.

“I refused to do press while Paul Rowan was in the room. I had a few choice words understandably so towards him.

“Back story, after (the) Austria game in 2017 at the Aviva, he went out of his way and wrote to UEFA and FIFA to try and get myself and Martin O’Neill banned for post-match comments.

“The man in my book is a slimy touting (grass, snitch) cowardly weasel for doing that. End of.”

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McClean scored 11 goals in 104 caps for the Republic of Ireland during his senior international career.

Those caps included appearances at both Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.

The President’s Cup final marked his first match since re-signing for Derry in January.

He also claimed to have been targeted with sectarian chanting by the Shamrock Rovers fans and posted about it on Instagram.

McCLean said: “Getting called an orange b*****d from your fellow countrymen. Stay classy.”

McClean previously made 88 appearances for the club during his first spell, scoring 20 goals and providing 13 assists.

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His time with the Candystripes came to an end in 2011 as he completed a move to Sunderland.

In the decade and a half since, he has enjoyed spells with Wigan Athletic, West Brom, Stoke City and Wrexham.

During over two years with the latter, he won back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship.

McClean’s League of Ireland return is set to come on Friday night as Derry begin their campaign at home to Sligo Rovers.