Martin O’Neill sums up Koeman’s pain, compares absence of Seamus Coleman to missing Gareth Bale

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Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has praised Everton’s Seamus Coleman.

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has told Sky Sports that he thinks Seamus Coleman is ‘world-class’, and just as much of a miss as Gareth Bale is for Wales.

Ireland picked up a vital 2-0 win over Moldova on Friday night, with Nottingham Forest’s Daryl Murphy scoring twice in a comfortable victory at the Aviva Stadium.

O’Neill’s men are still pushing for qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and they face a tense last-day showdown against Wales on Monday night.

Wales also won on Friday, beating Georgia 1-0 thanks to Tom Lawrence’s winning goal, and the two sides meet in Cardiff, with one side set to be left disappointed.

With Serbia already guaranteed of at least a play-off spot, the loser of Monday’s game will see their 2018 World Cup hopes crash and burn, whilst a draw isn’t enough for Ireland.

Ireland will have hopes of beating Wales given that superstar Gareth Bale is out of action through injury, but O’Neill will be missing right back Seamus Coleman.

The Everton ace has been out injured since suffering a gruesome injury against Wales back in March, and Ireland boss O’Neill has told Sky Sports that he feels Coleman is ‘world-class’, and just as much of a miss for Ireland as Bale is for Wales.

“Wales would naturally miss a player of that calibre, but we’ve got a world-class player missing ourselves in Seamus Coleman,” said O’Neill. “He’s been missing and in my mind, he’s as big a loss to us as Gareth Bale is to Wales,” he added.

Ireland aren’t the only ones missing Coleman right now, as O’Neill’s comments sum up just how much Everton and manager Ronald Koeman would also love to have him available again, given that Cuco Martina hasn’t been able to offer the same attributes, going forward or defensively.

Coleman may, sadly, never return the same player as he was given the severity of his injury, but his attributes clearly make him vital for club and country, with both O’Neill and Koeman desperately missing him right now.