Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’ve got toe hope for the best
SHIELS ADMITS SKIPPER MARISSA IS IN A FITNESS RACE FOR FINALS
KENNY SHIELS has been left sweating over the fitness of captain Marissa Callaghan for this summer’s Euros.
The 36-year-old is still recovering from a toe injury but is part of Northern Ireland’s squad for today’s friendly in Belgium.
The Cliftonville midfielder won’t feature in the game, which is Northern Ireland’s only warm-up game before the finals in England.
Shiels had hoped to arrange three before kicking off the tournament against Norway on July 7.
“Marissa is not taking part to full capacity, so we don’t want to be counting our chickens too much. It would be great if she could be ready for the Euros,” Shiels said.
“It is just the timescale. I am not saying there are any doubts.
“It is just Marissa is a key figure and key player and she has a presence on the pitch which helps, too. So you can’t say for definite when people are returning from injuries.”
Callaghan is recovering from a toe injury and has been wearing a protective boot.
That prompted concerns over her availability for next month’s tournament in England.
“Marissa won’t be involved
against Belgium. The injury hasn’t fully healed yet to let her play,” Shiels added.
“If it was the last game of the season and you weren’t playing for another three months, and the game was important, you would put her in.
“But because it’s a friendly I don’t see any benefits it would carry to Marissa considering where she is.”
Shiels will name his 23-player squad for the Euros on Monday, but with a lack of game time for his players he admits his final panel remains undecided.
He said: “I am not sure how close I am to my final squad. We will see how they get on in this game against Belgium. That will give me more information again. And we will work from there.”
Northern Ireland’s Euro preparations have been restricted to just one friendly against Belgium – ranked 19th in the world.
Shiels believes it is the perfect test to gauge where his players are right now.
He said: “We are trying to sustain professionalism as much as we possibly can, because I would love to have had three practice games, three friendlies.
“That’s been the real disappointment, because you need to be conditioned to play teams like Belgium, Austria, Norway and England. We could have done with a bit more, especially playing against a team like Belgium.
“I am having to judge people on one game.”