Rice shouldn’t be stringing us along... it’s time to move on

HE has had more than enough time to make his mind up now but the longer he takes, the more likely it is that Declan Rice (right) will choose to play for England. So let him go and we can all move on.

The moment he agreed to meet Gareth Southgate, after playing three times for Ireland, I believe Martin O’Neill should have decided he would not pick him again.

I saw Rice’s two recent performances for West Ham in their wins against Everton at Goodison Park and over Manchester United at the London Stadium and he was brilliant.

He is showing that he will be a massive miss for Ireland.

But, ultimately, I don’t care about his ability and potential. The feeling of playing for Ireland is more important to me than taking someone, and waiting for a decision, based on their ability.

On the other hand, I am glad that the Harry Arter/Roy Keane situation has been sorted out and put to bed, so everyone can just get on with it now. Looking at the squad, we have struggled up front recently and the options for O’Neill are still limited. With Jon Walters gone, Sean Maguire is back in the squad, even though he has not played yet this season due to a hamstring injury, and he returns with additional pressure on his young shoulders.

With Preston struggling at the foot of the Championship, his club are pinning a lot of hope on Maguire while Ireland are in need of a goalscorer, too.

Let’s hope Christian Eriksen is not fit. Ireland supporters at Aviva Stadium on Saturday could miss out on one of the best players in the Premier League, but I am sure they can live with that.

His absence is a leveller. Without Eriksen, Denmark come down to our level. If you look at the two squads, there is not much between them and the Danes are not used to playing without their super star.

Although we are still trying to work out what the Nations League really means, I am sure Martin O’Neill does not want to finish bottom of this group and every Ireland team I played in wanted to win every match.

After the manner of the defeat in Cardiff, and then Denmark’s comfortable win over Wales a few days later, the focus is on the manager and his team delivering performances and results in two very tough games.