Sunderland defender John O’Shea may be fit for the Republic of Ireland’s crucial Euro 2016 play-off second-leg against Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow night, despite Sam Allardyce saying that he wouldn’t be “anywhere near available” because of a hamstring injury.
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The 32-year-old, who was suspended for the first leg, said: “Obviously I got the two goals, but it’s not about one man, it’s not about me”.
Meanwhile, former Sochaux player and coach Bazdarevic, who still lives near Strasbourg, expressed his sympathy for the people of France during his pre-match press conference at the Aviva Stadium following Friday’s terror attacks in Paris.
A tight first leg last Friday, played behind an ever-increasing haze of fog, came to life in the final 10 minutes, with first Robbie Brady scoring to seemingly send Ireland on their way to a priceless win on the road, only for Edin Dzeko to claw the home side level just three minutes later.
“We’re hoping the stadium is well policed and I’m hoping we’ll be OK but I haven’t thought about that”.
“Listen, I don’t want to be writing them off because I know for a fact they’ll be believing they can get in that starting XI in France. I think he could cause problems to anybody”.
Walters’ deeper position on the right allowed him to track back throughout the game, and he even swapped flanks to help out Robbie Brady on the left side of defence when Visca started to threatem.
And with O’Neill adamant Bosnia can score in Dublin, he needs the power and pace of Walters – and Long if he shakes off injury – to change the dynamic of Ireland’s approach.
Brady also hailed the team spirit within the Ireland squad and singled out Jeff Hendrick, a player he has grown up playing alongside through the Ireland ranks, for praise after another excellent performance.
“John has done a significant amount of work during the week which is fine, Shane perhaps less so”, said O’Neill yesterday.
Asked about the contribution of manager Martin O’Neill and assistant Roy Keane, Walters said: “They’ve been excellent through the whole campaign”.
But while O’Neill has insisted there is no room for sentiment in his thinking, Keane has warned people not to write off the older generation as a new one emerges. You’ve just got to take it all in because these moments don’t come around very often in people’s careers. “The tie is finely balanced and we have to go for the win”, he said. “Both teams made it hard for each other so it’s all to play for in the second leg”. Also battling for fitness is Southampton forward Shane Long, who scored Ireland’s winning goal against Germany last month. I always felt those points might be important so they proved.
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With England, Wales and Northern Ireland already qualified, there is a hunger here for the Republic to join the party and O’Neill said: “It would be a big boost for the country if we could qualify”. I think the players have wanted to play.
