It's definitely not the news that Ireland fans wanted to hear, but Roberto Martinez has all but confirmed that both James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman will miss Ireland's upcoming games against Gibraltar and Germany.
There's nothing official from the FAI as of yet but the signs from the Everton camp are looking far from positive. Paul O'Hehir from the Daily Mirror was one to break the news via Twitter.
No confirmation yet from FAI but Roberto Martinez said in last hour that Seamus Coleman wont be fit enough for either Gibraltar or Germany
— Paul O'Hehir (@paulohehir) October 5, 2014
Neither McCarthy nor Coleman were included in Everton's squad for today's game against Man Utd, with Martinez, earlier in the week confirming that it could be a race against time for them to be fit.
James has got a tightening of his quad. He has played a lot of football and he is feeling a bit fatigued. It’s not a real injury and I am not concerned by that.
Seamus Coleman had concussion against Wolfsburg but then he suffered a little bit of a soft tissue problem. I don’t think it will be too long [before he is fully fit]. The international break should clear those injuries.
McCarthy's absence from the Gibraltar game was confirmed yesterday and Martinez subsequently ruled him out of the Germany game before today's kick-off. However, it was assumed that Coleman would be available for the trip to Gelsenkirchen on October 14th.
With that now seemingly unlikely, any chance of taking points off the world champions has certainly taken a hit.
Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
