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Martin O\u2019Neill has not given up hope of having Declan Rice, Harry Arter and Seamus Coleman back for what he admits may be a must-win Nations League double-header next month.<\/p>\nMartin O\u2019Neill has not given up hope of having Declan Rice, Harry Arter and Seamus Coleman back for what he admits may be a must-win Nations League double-header next month.<\/p>\n
The Republic of Ireland boss had to do without all three for Tuesday night\u2019s 1-1 friendly draw in Poland, with Rice considering overtures from England, Arter having made himself unavailable after a training ground row with assistant boss Roy Keane and Coleman out with a stress fracture to his foot.<\/p>\n
However, he is hoping to have some of that trio at his disposal as Denmark and Wales head for Dublin in October, with injured duo Robbie Brady and James McCarthy also making progress.<\/p>\n
Having revealed after the game in Wroclaw that he was keeping his fingers crossed over Coleman, O\u2019Neill said when asked about a possible reconciliation between Arter and Keane: \u201cAs I already mentioned, I think there is every possibility of a reconciliation and I\u2019m just hoping that will materialize.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Rice, who has three caps to his name, but is yet to make a competitive appearance for Ireland, O\u2019Neill was circumspect with England counterpart Gareth Southgate having also made his interest known.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI don\u2019t know any more than you do at this particular juncture. Honestly, genuinely don\u2019t. There\u2019s no point in me commenting here positively or negatively until I get to talk to the people again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland will at least head into the October fixtures buoyed by a much-improved display against the Poles after Mateusz Klich denied them victory by cancelling out debutant Aiden O\u2019Brien\u2019s 53rd-minute header at the death.<\/p>\n
That game came five days after a 4-1 drubbing in Wales which left them on the back foot in their Nations League campaign.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill said: \u201cConsidering the situation and there are only four games in the group, I think you\u2019d have to try and win both games if we could.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt won\u2019t be easy, but if we have couple of players back, that again will give us an added boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the players in there are delighted, they\u2019re buzzing. They\u2019re disappointed, naturally, with the concession of the goal late on.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been nice to have come here and actually won the game in Poland regardless of it being a friendly game.\u201d<\/p>\n