Jon Walters has admitted that he was "nowhere near 100 percent" after the first minute or so of Ireland's 1-1 draw with Sweden and has emerged as a major doubt ahead of Ireland's crucial clash against Belgium on Saturday.
The Stoke City striker lasted 64 minutes before being replaced by James McClean and he admitted (via The42.ie) after the game that he was lucky to last that long.
I was struggling to sprint and jump but I got through the first half. I made a couple of runs in the second half and it tightened right up.
I think the right thing was to come off and let’s see how it settles down the next couple of days.
I was trying to get through it and see if it settled down but it didn’t really. It was still sore. I tried to do my part in the second half and made a few runs in behind. If I was 100% I would have easily got on the end of a couple.
I couldn't really jump or sprint.
Manager Martin O'Neill has indicated that he faces a major headache over Walters ahead of Ireland's next game - which takes place on Saturday afternoon at 2pm in Bordeaux.
Jon’s not great. I would be concerned about it. He said he felt his Achilles quite early on in the match, but he saw it through to that particular time.
We’ll have to see. We’ll check him in the morning again. He’s being checked now as I speak, but it would be a concern for us.
Walter's injury concerns go a long way towards explaining his lacklustre display today - but the question of who could replace him is one that will come into sharp focus over the next few days.
James McClean seems the obvious choice - but O'Neill is not a man for obvious choices - hence his picking of a clearly injured Walters from the start - as well as giving the freshly recovered Robbie Keane over 15 minutes at the end of the game. Aiden McGeady has long been a favourite of O'Neill's and could well come into contention too.
