STAY POSITIVE SSON
O’neill tells captain Coleman: Henrik made full recovery and so can you
MARTIN O’NEILL admits Séamus Coleman’s leg break could threaten his career – but he believes the Ireland defender can emulate Henrik Larsson and bounce back better than ever.
Larsson suffered a similar double leg break in 1999 but returned seven months later before O’neill took charge at Celtic.
“Henrik was a brilliant player, he came back from that injury and hopefully Seamus will do the same,” said Irish boss O’neill.
NEIL TAYLOR was found slumped on the dressing-room floor in stunned silence with his head in his hands after breaking Seamus Coleman’s leg.
The Ireland captain’s sickening injury after Taylor’s horror red-card challenge overshadowed Wales’ bad-tempered goalless draw at the Aviva Stadium.
Wales manager Chris Coleman said: “Neil’s numb. He hasn’t said a word. I was the first one into the dressing room after the game, he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.
“But no matter how
badly he feels, or we feel, it’s worse for Seamus.”
Wales midfielder Joe Allen (right) added: “He was in bits. Tayls is one of my best mates and a great guy. He’s really disappointed that one of his tackles has ended up getting someone hurt.
“But unfortunately in football these things happen. There was no malice in the tackle and he wouldn’t have intended to hurt anyone.” The Taylor tackle was the most shocking of a series of flashpoints in Friday evening’s bruising battle. But Coleman refused to pin the blame on Ireland for the feisty nature of the World Cup qualifier. Ireland No.2 Roy Keane set the tone in the build-up by urging his players to “hit” Wales dangerman Gareth Bale to stop him. And Irish legend Johnny Giles stoked tensions further by taking swipes at Bale, Aaron Ramsey and claiming Wales are “average” without the Real Madrid star.
Coleman said: “I’m not going to complain about that. If you’re the opposition manager or coach, you say: ‘This is how I want to go, this is what I believe in’. I knew what type of game it was going to be – tough and physical.”
Asked if the Irish had stirred things up, Coleman added: “Our boys will stand up for themselves because you have to stand up for yourselves. What you don’t expect is for anybody to come off with a serious injury. You don’t want that.”