Coleman on the mend as O’Neill vents his anger

Martin O’Neill, the Republic of Ireland manager, has revealed the operation to repair a double fracture in Seamus Coleman’s right leg has been a success but has criticised the Wales pair Neil Taylor and Gareth Bale. As revealed by

Coleman has had metal pins inserted into his leg to fuse the snapped bones together and is facing at least six months on the sidelines.

O’Neill was unwilling to put a timescale on the Everton defender’s recovery, although it is thought the 28-year-old will be lucky to play again this year.

“He had the operation yesterday [Saturday] morning at 8.30am – that was successful,” O’Neill told the BBC. “He has realised everything that has happened and is very disappointed.”

When asked when he expected to be able to select his captain again, O’Neill added: “I’m not sure, I would only be guessing.

“Even the doctors and surgeons wouldn’t be terribly sure. Sometimes there are complications afterwards and injuries can be more prolonged, other times it can be clean and clear sailing.”

The tackle by Taylor that snapped Coleman’s leg has been widely condemned, even though the Aston Villa player was distraught when he realised what he had done and apologised immediately to the Ireland bench.

However, there is growing anger towards Bale, who made an equally bad tackle on John O’Shea moments before the Coleman incident.

“I’ve seen the challenges,” said O’Neill. “I’ve seen the [Gareth Bale] challenge on John O’Shea and they are very poor challenges.”