Republic happy to throw in kids

MARTIN O’NEILL insists he is ready to throw an international rookie into the Republic of Ireland’s crunch World Cup qualifiers. The Irish face Moldova here in Dublin tomorrow night before a trip to Cardiff for a match against Wales on Monday which is likely to determine which nation advances to the play-offs for next summer’s finals. Wales have taken second position from Ireland in Group D in large part thanks to a debut strike from 17-year-old Ben Woodburn in last month’s 1-0 victory over Austria. O’Neill has noted the impact of the previously untried Liverpool youngster and has included three uncapped forwards in his squad for the two games — Aston Villa’s Scott Hogan, Sean Maguire of Preston North End and Millwall’s Aiden O’Brien. Asked if he would take a risk like Wales manager Chris Coleman did with Woodburn, the Ireland boss said: ‘I wouldn’t have a problem, if I thought over the next couple of days that someone could eke out a goal for us. ‘Young lads come in and accept the pressure. It’s risk andd reward. I don’t mind risking that. ‘We’ll see how the training goes. Some of them might take to it like a duck to water.’