Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill was last night forced to delay the naming of his final squad for Friday's vital Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland at Celtic Park after injuries to Marc Wilson, James McCarthy and Keiren Westwood left him waiting to see if they will be fit enough to feature in the game.
Wilson lasted just 26 minutes of Stoke's win at White Hart Lane yesterday, a game O'Neill watched from the stands.
But McCarthy and Westwood both came through 90 minutes for Everton and Sheffield Wednesday respectively before their clubs informed the FAI that there were doubts about whether they would be in a position to join up with the Ireland squad ahead of tomorrow morning’s first training session of the week in Dublin.
"We are going to assess James," said Everton boss Roberto Martinez after his side's 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
“He was feeling his hamstring towards the end of the game but he wanted to stay on the pitch because we had used all three subs.
“It is a bit of a concern because he had the same injury a few weeks back when he missed the game against Manchester United and it is in that area. We are hoping that it is more fatigue than a soft tissue problem. We will assess him in the morning.”
The delay will be a major concern for O’Neill given the importance of the midfielder but he is perhaps better fixed for alternatives in that department than in the centre of defence where the loss of Wilson would be a significant blow.
The trip
The 27-year-old is also likely to be the focus of an assessment today and O’Neill expects to get the club’s verdict on the northerner’s fitness by this afternoon.
But there was a sense that given the nature of his exit yesterday, he is by far the less likely of the pair to make the trip.
Westwood, having endured a difficult couple of years with serious injuries, is also said to be a doubt despite having shown no signs of struggling as he kept a clean sheet against Rotherham on Saturday. The FAI was unaware last night of the nature of his difficulty but expects to hear more on his situation over the course of today too.
The concerns over the three players last night prompted O’Neill to defer the trimming of his squad back to something approaching the regulation 23 for competition games. He was understandably wary of cutting players who he would then immediately have to recall in the event that McCarthy or Wilson, in particular, do miss out.
There were some positives for the manager to take away from the weekend, meanwhile, with Jonathan Walters maintaining his recent strong run of form by scoring in Stoke's win over Tottenham.
Séamus Coleman came through Everton’s game without any obvious problems and earned his side a penalty from which they equalised.
Just as significantly, perhaps, Darron Gibson, who O'Neill had suggested was not getting nearly enough first-team football for his liking, came on after just 13 minutes of the game and did well over the course of it.
The former Manchester United star may well have done enough to play himself into the team in the event that McCarthy fails to prove his own fitness. He could start anyway now that O'Neill has been forced to give up any hope of Glenn Whelan recovering from the fracture that he sustained against Germany in time for the Scotland game.
Overdue reminder
On Saturday, Shane Long provided a somewhat overdue reminder of the case to be made for him starting against the Scots by coming on for Southampton and scoring two well -taken goals, his first for his new club in the league.
They at were enough to maintain the club's remarkably strong run of form and keep them in second place behind Chelsea. Jeff Hendrick also got two for Derby County as they hammered Wolves 5-0.
Hendrick's Derby team-mate Cyrus Christie may yet feature in the squad this week with a spokesman for the association declining to confirm whether the paperwork on the declaration of the young full back, who almost scored for County late on in the game, or that of Ipswich striker David McGoldrick, has gone through, but there was a sense that one or other might be about to feature for the first time.
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, meanwhile, made one change to his squad over the weekend with Derby's uncapped 24 year-old striker Johnny Russell replacing his teammate, midfielder Craig Bryson, after the latter dropped out of the games due to a hip injury.
Russell, like Hendrick, scored twice in Saturday’s defeat of Wolves and manager Steve McClaren recently described the in-form frontman as the “catalyst” in the team’s surge to the top of the Championship.
