James McCarthy’s hopes of featuring against Austria receding

The chances of James McCarthy featuring for the Republic of Ireland against Austria next weekend appeared to recede further on Friday morning after the midfielder was omitted from the Everton squad to face Chelsea on Saturday.

McCarthy has endured an injury-plagued campaign, making just one appearance off the bench for the Toffees since August.

However despite a lack of playing time he featured in Ireland’s World Cup qualification wins over Georgia and Moldova in October, and has been named in Martin O’Neill’s squad for the clash in Vienna on November 12th.

McCarthy's inclusion in that squad sparked a war of words between O'Neill and Everton manager Ronald Koeman, who urged the 25-year-old to prioritise his club commitments over international duties.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge, Koeman said: “The player is not fit and not involved in team sessions.

“To have a call-up he needs to be close to being fit but it’s a bit of the same story as to what happened last time. We spoke to James and my advice to him is to stay here, train and get fit as soon as possible. But the final decision is down to the player.”

And Koeman’s argument was given added weight with McCarthy’s omission from Saturday’s Premier League fixture.

If McCarthy were to feature in Ireland’s Group D clash next week he would do so having not played since Everton’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on October 15th.