Big Mick will stick with Coleman as captain

MICK McCARTHY has given Seamus Coleman his full support to continue as the Republic of Ireland captain for the Euro 2020 qualifiers. The unequivocal backing for Coleman follows his recall for Everton in yesterday’s win over Bournemouth at Goodison Park. Coleman, 30, returned to the team under manager Marco Silva after being dropped for the two previous games in favour of Jonjoe Kenny. But Republic of Ireland boss McCarthy has no intention of jettisoning his captain when the Euros kick off in nine weeks’ time. ‘Even if Seamus wasn’t playing [for Everton], I’d have no worries about him,’ insisted McCarthy, who led Ireland into battle 22 times. ‘I remember being in the situation at Millwall and not playing. Big Jack [Charlton] picked me every time I turned up. Because he could rely on me. I know I can rely on Seamus. ‘He’ll be alright, Seamus. He’s such a good player, such a great lad and there is no problem.’ Coleman has captained Ireland 13 times since taking over the armband from John O’Shea in the finals of Euro 2016. He is set to win his 50th cap when Ireland play Gibraltar in the Group D opener on March 23. By then, McCarthy will have a grasp on the resources available to him as he seeks to buttress the Irish ranks with a raft of recruits. He confirmed that Declan Rice, Patrick Bamford, Nathan Redmond and Will

Keane are among his targets, while he has asked Nottingham Forest centre-forward Daryl Murphy to consider coming out of retirement and has not ruled out a recall for Aston Villa veteran Glenn Whelan. ‘It’s a huge job. It’s getting bigger by the day,’ said McCarthy, who said he is ‘nowhere near’ knowing his firstchoice XI. ‘For a month, I’ve been going out watching players, speaking to people, speaking to players. ‘I was looking at games at the weekend to go to and the squad seems to be getting smaller and smaller. There’s quite a lot of players not playing through one thing or another. ‘I could write my team down and one half might not be playing, and the other half might be injured. There is no point in doing that. ‘Don’t get me wrong, of course I think about it in my head. But I’m nowhere near picking the team.’ Murphy, 35, retired a year ago while Whelan, 35 yesterday, was ushered out under Martin O’Neill in the friendly against Northern Ireland last November. ‘I was told Glenn hadn’t retired. It is my intention to speak to him. I’ve spoken to nearly everyone else,’ added the Irish boss. McCarthy (left) confirmed his squad will head to the Algarve in May for a training camp ahead of the June double-header away to Denmark (June 7) and home to Gibraltar (June 10). Alan Kelly, who was part of Irish squads at two World Cup finals, will rejoin the backroom staff as goalkeeping coach.