O’Neill: we must find a cure fast

MARTIN O’NEILL has challenged the Republic of Ireland to come out fighting as an injury crisis threatens to engulf them ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Wales.

Already without the suspended Robbie Brady for Friday’s Group D clash at the Aviva Stadium, O’Neill yesterday saw playmaker Wes Hoolahan, above, added to a casualty list which includes central defenders Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark, as well as midfielder Harry Arter.

Everton’s James McCarthy and Daryl Murphy of Newcastle could miss out too with Ireland rapidly running out of options.

Asked for an injury update, O’Neill said: “How long have you got? It’s the lengthiest I’ve known since I’ve come into the job and it’s happened at a really crucial time. But other players will have to step up. You curse your luck and get on with it.

“The irony is that when Gareth Bale got injured in November, everybody was talking about Wales possibly having one of their major players out of the team and it turns out we’re the ones doing the suffering.”

Stoke striker Jonathan Walters has been around the Republic squad long enough to know they are often at their best when their backs are against the wall.

Walters said: “We’ve been underdogs in a lot of games and got the result we wanted.

“We showed that at Euro 2016, such a difficult group to get out of and we did, and we’ve shown that in this campaign so far.

“It’s another difficult group to get out of, but four games in we’re sitting pretty at the moment.”