James McClean: 'A bit of a journey' - Republic of Ireland and Wigan player reveals he is autistic

James McClean decided to undergo an autism spectrum disorder assessment after noticing similarities between himself and his young daughter, who is autistic

Republic of Ireland and Wigan footballer James McClean has revealed he is autistic.

The 33-year old, who has 98 caps for his country, shared his diagnosis on his Instagram account.

McClean's youngest daughter is autistic and her diagnosis led McClean to undergo an autism spectrum disorder [ASD] assessment.

"It's been a bit of a journey and now having a diagnosis I feel it's time to share it," he said.

McClean's announcement comes during World Autism Acceptance Week, which aims to increase autism awareness.

He highlighted in his statement that he went public with the diagnosis in order to support his daughter.

"As you all know, my daughter Willow-Ivy is autistic," McClean wrote on Instagram.

"The last four years have been life changing in the most amazing way but also very difficult at times as her daddy, watching her overcome so many obstacles in her life and learning how to manage the challenges she faces on a daily basis.

"The more Erin [McClean's wife] and I learned about autism the more we began to recognise I was very similar to Willow in more ways than we thought.

"I see so many small traits in her that I see in myself. So I decided to go and get an ASD assessment.

"I have debated for a while going public in sharing this as I've done this for Willow-Ivy, to let her know that I understand and that being autistic won't and should never hold her back from reaching her goals and dreams."