TESTING TIMES
O’Neill: We’ll need an almighty effort
MARTIN O’NEILL has been rocked by the first injury calamity of his Republic of Ireland tenure.
For Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Wales in Dublin, O’Neill will be without five of the team which secured a 1-0 win away to Austria after Wes Hoolahan (thigh) yesterday joined the list of absentees.
In addition, James McCarthy (hamstring) and Daryl Murphy (calf) are long shots for any involvement, while the Irish captain Seamus Coleman (ankle) sat out training yesterday — O’Neill insisted it was a precautionary measure.
‘It’s the lengthiest list of injuries that I have known since I have come into the job, and unfortunately it’s happened at a really crucial time for us,’ said the Irish manager.
‘It would have been a tough task normally, even if we were at full-strength. It’s going to take an almighty effort to win this game,’ he added.
Even so, O’Neill knows he must work with the players he has as there is nothing to be gained by fretting over the ones who are missing
‘In three weeks’ time no one will ever remember who was and who wasn’t playing in the game. We have to get ourselves right for the match and we will do. We’ll go with it with as much gusto as possible,’ O’Neill said.
Irish managers have been hard hit by defections ahead of huge games before.
For the Euro ’96 play-off against Holland at Anfield, Jack Charlton was without first XI regulars Roy Keane, Steve Staunton, Ray Houghton and Niall Quinn.
Even so, this is new to
to O’Neill after 35 games in charge, with five key players all out. ‘From the time the news was coming through on Shane Duffy, which was a blow, it’s been followed up by Ciaran Clark, Harry Arter and Wes (Hoolahan) and the possibility of James (McCarthy) too. We knew about Robbie’s (Brady) suspension since Vienna.’ O’Neill reckons Chris Coleman, the Wales manager, is sitting pretty right now. ‘If I was looking across the way and thinking that maybe three or four of their major players were out, it would obviously give you a boost,’ he said. O’Neill revealed he has been spending ‘all my time’ thinking of the game but not specifically about world class dangerman Gareth Bale (above). ‘I’m far from obsessed about it because I always felt he would play in the game. He’s been big for Wales for the last number of years, really big, in terms of qualification and in the Euros too. ‘He will be hard to deal with.’ O’Neill was reluctant to indulge in speculation when asked yesterday if his team would be favourites to qualify for the finals if they won on Friday. ‘Wales have a decent pedigree. Even though they have played three games at home and only one away, they’ll feel they are well and truly in this group.’