Shane has to shake a leg to play
SHANE DUFFY will have to shake off a nagging groin injury if he is to face Wales in Thursday’s Nations League opener in Cardiff.
With Martin O’neill watching from the stands, the Derryman picked up the injury in Brighton’s 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday.
“I knew he had a groin problem as he couldn’t kick the ball properly and it reared its head again,” said O’neill after Duffy sat out yesterday’s training session at
FAI headquarters, along with
Reading’s David
Meyler, who has a slight knee injury.
But O’neill is hopeful that both players will pull through ahead of the game, for which he reduced his squad to 26 players.
Harry Arter, Greg Cunningham and Darragh Lenihan have been cut while Shane Long is ruled out.
Long was injured in Southampton’s 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday and a scan on his foot on Sunday revealed he will be sidelined for three weeks.
Manchester United goalkeeper Kieran O’hara also drops out of the squad to team up with the Irish U21s for their upcoming qualifiers against Kosovo and Germany.
Jon Walters and Sean Mcdermott – the Norwaybased goalkeeper – missed training, having only linked up with the squad yesterday evening after playing on Sunday.
Robbie Brady and James Mccarthy are stepping up their recoveries from serious injury and could return for next month’s games against Denmark and Wales.