O’Neill predicts Group D will go right to the wire

THE abiding image of Friday night was of Seamus Coleman’s grotesquely twisted leg as he hit the Aviva Stadium turf.

But when the raw emotion of the captain’s injury is set aside, the Republic of Ireland must regroup for the second half of a World Cup campaign which took a hit against the Welsh.

It was a failure to win home games against Poland and Scotland in the Euro 2016 qualifiers which left Ireland playing catch-up and Martin O’Neill will be wary of history repeating itself at the similar stage of the World Cup campaign.

The 0-0 stalemate on Friday also cost Ireland top spot on goal difference in Group D where four points covers the top four teams after comfortable wins for Serbia and Austria against Georgia and Moldova respectively.

‘This group will go right to the end, Austria have put themselves back in it again, and Serbia, as I said after the Belgrade game, anyone who finishes in front of them will probably win the group.

‘Wales will not consider themselves out of it, and while they haven’t gained any ground on us, we’ve still to go to them,’ O’Neill said.

Wales have their own worries as Gareth Bale is banned for the Belgrade trip.

For Ireland, it’s Iceland tomorrow and O’Neill will be more concerned about a clean bill of health than a clean sheet.