Skipper Seamus Coleman is almost certain to miss the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off semi-final in Slovakia through injury.
The 31-year-old full-back limped out of Everton 4-2 Premier League win over Brighton on Saturday and Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has admitted he is unlikely to be involved after having a scan on the injury.
Speaking at a press conference in Abbotstown on Sunday, Kenny said: “It’s not great news, probably, in relation to Seamus Coleman yesterday. I was watching the game and immediately I knew when I saw him – he was chasing Aaron Connolly at the time, actually, and just pulled up.
Injury Update | Coleman likely to be ruled out— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) October 4, 2020
“He seems to have a hamstring strain that will most likely rule him out.”
Kenny had already lost Blackburn defender Darragh Lenihan to a knee injury and is sweating on Nottingham Forest midfielder Harry Arter, who picked up a thigh problem during Saturday’s 2-1 Sky Bet Championship defeat by Bristol City, and a series of unnamed players.
He said: “There were a lot of phone calls yesterday, the type of phone calls that you don’t welcome probably in relation to five players.
“Hopefully a few will be OK, but obviously a couple have pulled out of the squad through no fault of their own, just unfortunate injuries.
“We’ve had Darragh Lenihan, of course, who got injured in training – a knee injury – with Blackburn and missed the game yesterday, so he’s had to pull out.
“We’ll wait and see on Harry Arter, how he is. He came off yesterday with a slight thigh issue, so we’ll see how that goes as well.
“They’re the only ones I can speak about at the moment.”
No fewer than 11 members of Kenny’s 25-man squad were due to be in action for their clubs on Sunday before travelling to Dublin ahead of the Slovakia game and the Nations League fixtures against Wales and Finland which follow it, forcing the manager to play a waiting game.
He said: “Listen, that’s the way it is. We’ve got a good squad and it’s disappointing, obviously, in relation to our captain, Seamus Coleman.
“He’s obviously in brilliant form in the last few weeks particularly, and was playing very, very well yesterday – he was having an exceptional game, really, yesterday, so it was just one of those situations.
“There’s nothing we can do about that and we just have to adapt and get ready for Slovakia and make sure we’re right. Hopefully we get good news today in relation to a lot of the players and they come in ready to go tonight.”
