The Everton midfielder has been at the centre of some club v country rows this season.
Republic of Ireland’s James McCarthy as Italy’s Stefano Sturaro sustains an injury
Everton boss Ronald Koeman may have insisted over the weekend that James McCarthy was a few weeks away from recovering from injury but that has not stopped Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill from calling him up for the upcoming games against Iceland and Wales.
It is news that is bound to irk Everton’s Dutch manager.
The Merseyside club and Ireland have not seen eye-to-eye over the selection of McCarthy in the past, and in his press conference today O’Neill alluded to that point, as reported by 98fm:
“Well if he’s disappointed he’s got another injury, certainly I don’t think we can be blamed for that.
“We haven’t had him for quite a few months. Everton have had him all this time so I don’t think he can attach any blame to us.”
He then went on to confirm that he had spoken to McCarthy about his injury and that the Irish midfielder seems optimistic over the problem:
“He’s actually feeling not too bad at all. I will just keep in touch with him during this week. He’s hoping that he will be maybe in full training by the end of the week and then we will assess it after that. So, we’ll see.”
Everton will undoubtedly be disappointed by these comments, as they feel the player is clearly not going to be fit for international duty at this time.
Republic of Ireland coach Martin O’Neill
The Irishman has had to battle with niggling injury problems for some time now and the Everton staff will no doubt want him to use the international break as a chance recover fully from his latest ailment.
On the same note, the Republic of Ireland will believe that player should be featuring if he is considered fit to play.
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