O’Shea a doubt for Hornets fixture

JOHN O’Shea needed stitches in a shin wound after the Republic of Ireland’s feisty 0-0 draw with Wales, but the Sunderland centre-back was fortunate to escape an even more serious injury.

The World Cup qualifier in Dublin was overshadowed by Seamus Coleman’s broken leg in the 72nd minutes.

But seconds earlier O’Shea was on the receiving end of a shin-high, studs-up tackle from Gareth Bale. The Real Madrid forward picked up a booking which will rule him out of Wales’ game in Serbia in June.

O’Shea completed the game but it remains to be seen whether the wound will have healed sufficiently for him to face Watford in the Black Cats’ next game, at Vicarage Road on April 1.

While Bale and his manager Chris Coleman defended the challenge others felt referee Nicola Rizzoli had been unduly lenient.

Former Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill, now in charge of the Ireland team, commented: “I’ve seen John’s injury and he has some stud marks on his ankle.”

Ex-Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann was much more scathing about the tackle, describing it as “cowardly” on Twitter.

Ireland play Iceland on Tuesday, but O’Shea was anyway unlikely to play in the friendly. O’Shea will probably want to play in Saturday’s crucial game against the Hornets, but the question is whether the wound will hold together sufficiently by then. Sunderland have another important away game on the Tuesday, at Leicester City, and ten games in all during April and May. Gareth Bale and John O’Shea shake hands