Ahead of the trip to the States for the friendly with Mexico, as the countdown continues to the critical qualifier with Austria in Dublin on June 11th, Martin O'Neill has confirmed that stricken captain Seamus Coleman will be involved with the squad over the coming weeks.
Coleman will miss the rest of 2017 at least with the hideous broken leg he suffered against Wales in March, but O'Neill today told The Nicky Byrne Show on 2FM that his captain will be involved ahead of the crunch qualifier.
He is really up for [joining up with the squad] and he is going to come over and join us for a few days before the Austria game, which would be a massive lift for the players.
He is a top class captain. You talk to him around the hotel for a couple of days, he’s self-effacing. Then he goes into the dressing room and he’s a different character completely.
O'Neill has clashed with Everton manager Ronald Koeman in the past, over the loyalties of James McCarthy, but the Irish manager sees no such issue arising with Coleman:
I think Seamus can divide the two up. Obviously, his bread and butter — as they say — is club football. That’s where he earns his living.
But Seamus has obviously got great pride wearing the shirt for Ireland. When he is over in Ireland I think he has total concentration on that and when he goes back there, it’s club football.
I think he feels ‘let the two of them argue and I’ll just stay out of it'.
You can listen to the interview in full here.
