FINDING SCORER’S MY GOAL

O’neill steps up hunt for Rob replacement

MARTIN O’NEILL admits his search for the new Robbie Keane is becoming a massive problem - and that is why he is throwing caution to the wind.

Keane is the Republic of Ireland’s all-time record scorer with 68 goals but since his international retirement in August 2016, the Boys in Green have scored just 18 times in 16 matches.

O’neill believes Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan will come good having been blooded in recent games and veteran Jon Walters is playing on for another campaign.

Shane Long’s problems in front of goal have been well documented for club and country but his ability to stretch teams means O’neill still needs him.

But with nothing to lose going into three end-of-season games, O’neill yesterday added Shamrock Rovers ace

Graham Burke and

Preston’s Callum

Robinson to the mix.

English-born striker Robinson

(right) will only feature against

Celtic in Scott

Brown’s testimonial on Sunday week as his paperwork has yet to come through so he’s not eligible for France or USA.

But O’neill has indicated a willingness to take a punt on strikers more so than other positions as he knows the strength in depth is not there.

He said: “My view is that little Maguire can take players on and has an eye for goal. I watched Preston against Sheffield United where he and Robinson played together.

“Callum is lightweight. He was at Villa and they didn’t consider him good enough. He’s scored a few goals. He’s trying to go past a few and from that viewpoint, why not? “We have a problem – we do not have a Robbie Keane and we don’t have anybody here at this minute who would be almost semi guaranteed to get you a goal in important situations. “Scott Hogan is lacking a bit of confidence I think. He thought he was going to have a big, big season with Villa but it didn’t happen.

“I like him around the box. He can do better with his hold-up play, I still think that’s important for a centre-forward particularly at our level. But I think he can get you a goal.

“Whether he’s going to be prolific at international level is another thing. After Robbie Keane, Jon Walters would be the next in terms of scoring goals.

“Shane Long plays irregularly at club level and doesn’t score the goals at this minute but we are still depending on him because he can stretch teams.”

O’neill then joked about travelling all the way to Kiev to scout a striker if he thought they had Irish blood.

Stressing the urgent need to discover a scorer, he added: “It’s a problem and it becomes a massive problem because all the good sides have boys who can score goals.

“I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s something we eat or don’t but we haven’t had it for a long time.

“Robbie was the last person we had who you felt would go on to a field and carve a goal out for you.”

O’neill was in England this week to watch Ireland’s U17s in the Euros and saw Troy Parrott score the winner against Denmark.

The Spurs striker is already being billed as a great hope for the future but, at 16, it’s unlikely to be O’neill who brings him through.

The Ireland boss said: “I was speaking to Pat Jennings about Parrott and he occasionally trains with the Tottenham first team. That’s fantastic that he’s even being considered at that age.” A NUMBER of senior players will skip Ireland’s clash with Celtic on Sunday week but captain Seamus Coleman isn’t one of them as he makes up for lost time over his leg break.

And James Mcclean (above) - who has been linked with Celtic in the past - is also nailed on to feature. “Do you think he would miss that?” asked Martin O’neill with a wry smile.

Shane Duffy and John O’shea will sit the game out – O’shea will also play no part against France and instead save himself for his international swansong against USA.

O’neill said: “There’s a couple of senior players who won’t be in the Celtic game because, before it was announced, they had organised breaks with their families.

“While each one of them has said they would change it for that game – and I was pleased to hear that – I just thought I’d leave them and they’ll come in for the two other games.

“Celtic’s not a fully fledged international but we still want to be competitive.”