O’NEILL: McCLEAN HAS BEEN BELOW PAR
UNDER-FIRE Martin O’Neill has publicly questioned the performance levels of James McClean, the player he has turned to more often than anyone else during his five years as Ireland manager. McClean was labelled Ireland’s ‘talisman’ by his manager for his contributions in the 2018 World Cup campaign. But recent form has reflected that of the team. ‘I think that James hasn’t reached those heights (of form) in the last year,’ said O’Neill after Thursday’s 00 stalemate with Northern Ireland in Dublin. ‘He’s obviously shown the type of player he was for us in World Cup qualifying, you would have to say that he was probably our talisman, culminating in his goal in our game against Wales. ‘I think James realises that he hasn’t reached those levels for whatever reasons it might be; he isn’t playing regularly at club level.’ McClean is suspended for the final Nations League game against Denmark for which O’Neill has made a number of changes. Injuries to John Egan (calf), Alan Browne (shoulder) and Sean Maguire (hamstring) have ruled them out of today’s trip to Aarhus, while veteran Glenn Whelan has been left out of the travelling party. O’Neill has kept Lee O’Connor in the squad and drafted in Hearts centrehalf Jimmy Dunne. Dunne, who has has played twice as substitute for the Irish U21s, was on the radar of Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill. Should he play on Monday, he will be tied to Ireland, as will rookie striker Michael Obafemi who also figures in the 23-man squad. ‘I think Robbie Brady will have improved again, in terms of fitness after getting 90 minutes. I think Seamus Coleman will come out of Thursday’s game pretty well as well,’ O’Neill said. The manager claimed to be mystified by his players’ inability to take their training form into the game on Thursday night. ‘I’ve known a lot of players who are very decent on the training ground and have never been able to translate it into the big games. That is something we have to work on.’ As Ireland limp on, O’Neill acknowledged he ‘expected more’ from 2018. ‘I think we could have found a wee bit more going forward. It’s certainly been a disappointing year in that aspect.’