JR Wilson and his brother Tyreke speak on the phone every day, dissecting what’s hot and what’s not from the League of Ireland's ever generous news cycle.
But not this week, and certainly not today. Not when their respective clubs - Shelbourne and Bohemians - collide in a Dublin derby at Tolka Park.
And not when JR’s Shels have the chance to leapfrog Tyreke’s Gypsies into sixth if they bounce back from defeat in Drogheda by landing all three points.
Explaining the radio silence this week, JR Wilson said: “We’re best mates and very close but this week has been different.
“We don’t speak about things when we’re playing each other. We’ll just see who has the bragging rights for the weekend. I hope I’m giving him stick over the family dinner!.”
Their father is Karl Wilson, the former Coventry City midfielder who also had a spell with Shels which is why JR jokes that his dad is privately rooting for him tonight.
Karl’s brother, Thomas Wilson, was a Manchester United youth and was then at St Pat's but injuries cut his career short.
“Our parents follow us both, but I think my Dad would be more Shels although he wouldn’t be telling my brother that he wants Shels to win!
“But no, they always wish us well and say that what happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch. We’ll have a bit of banter after the game and let it go then.
“We speak to my Dad every day about football and he’s a great sounding board. The only bit of advice I don’t take off him is defending because he certainly couldn’t do that!.”
The Wilson brothers, both eager to start tonight after being subs for their respective clubs last week, are from Cherry Orchard stock.
Tyreke, 22, went to Manchester City before returning home with Waterford and then Bohs. JR, 23, was at Bray Wanderers and Bohs as a youngster before joining Shels.
He said: “Tyreke was the year below me but we trained together a lot and played in the field and on the streets every day until all hours.
“It’s all we’ve known since we were young lads - go to school, come home and play football until it’s dark.
“You would get called in for a quick bit of dinner but then it was straight back out to kick lumps out of each other!
“That’s the competitive streak in both of us. We just want to win everything. We could be doing anything but we still want to get one over each other. And we both want to do that tonight.”
Shelbourne have been hit by recent postponements while rivals compete in Europe and deal with chaotic travel schedules.
This is their first game at Tolka since beating Finn Harps on July 8 and Wilson said: “It feels like we haven’t played there for ages so we’re hoping to get a good, loud support for the derby.
“We’re a new team that has been promoted and we’re in a fairly good position but as a group we want to go higher.
“We’ll try to pick off targets one by one and Bohs are only a point ahead of us and we want to get ahead of them, it’s as simple as that.”
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