Forward thinking on all fronts for Martin O’Neill and Ireland

It’s a striking problem in every sense with which Martin O’Neill has to wrestle ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium.

After the 1-0 win over Switzerland, the manager has just one fit forward left in the ranks, with Robbie Keane (knee), Jon Walters (knee), Daryl Murphy (calf) and, of course, Kevin Doyle all ruled out of the match against the Slovaks.

Perhaps it was just as well that it was three members of the back four who combined to show the way to goal at the Aviva on Friday.

Still, better for Ireland that what would otherwise be hyped as a major injury crisis hits in between two March friendlies rather than much closer to June.

Indeed, if there is a manager for whom O’Neill’s dilemma might seem a rather more worrying problem right now, it’s probably Southampton’s Ronald Koeman, who will hardly be thrilled at the prospect of Shane Long seeing more action against Slovakia, just a couple of nights after putting in almost a full 90 minutes against the Swiss.

And especially when we got such a graphic illustration in Friday’s game of how badly a player can get burned in friendly fire, as Kevin Doyle was stretchered off with what turned out to be a gaping wound.

But credit to the Colorado Rapids man for not turning a drama into a crisis. When tweeting a picture from hospital of the side of his leg ripped open just above the ankle, he calmly observed that “it could have been worse”. And then, in response to the many messages from well-wishers which he received over the weekend, he offered an even more upbeat medical update: “Thanks to the plastic surgeons at the Mater Hospital, leg looks brand new. No serious damage, back jogging in a few weeks.”

While Doyle is remaining with the Ireland squad for ongoing medical management, Walters and Murphy have returned to their respective clubs, Stoke City and Ipswich Town, for further treatment.

There is concern meanwhile that Robbie Keane has failed to recover in time from what had at first seemed a fairly routine knock to the knee, with O’Neill suggesting that the captain’s long-haul flight from LA to Dublin hardly helped facilitate recovery from the injury.

“He stayed out of the training during the week because the little problem with the knee didn’t seem to be getting any better,” said the manager.

“He had the flight (from the US), it’s a long flight, and maybe that didn’t give it a chance to settle.

“I think that he feels that this is not a long term thing. He was just slightly concerned as he thought he was over it.”

While O’Neill has strictly limited room for manoeuvre up front — though one assumes that, tactically, the forward drought will simply serve to accelerate a reversion from Friday’s problematic 4-4-2 to his more favoured 4-2-3-1 against Slovakia — he does have the luxury of being able to contemplate unforced and possibly even wholesale change at the back.

Having previously said that Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot would start one of the games, he has now suggested that, along with Darren Randolph, he will also rest Friday’s successful centre-half partnership of Ciaran Clark and Shane Duffy, which should mean starts for John O’Shea and Richard Keogh in the centre of the defence.

Stephen Ward, Cyrus Christie, and the uncapped Matt Doherty could also come into the picture while, across the middle of the park, there’s a definite starting place for James McClean, according to the manager, as well as, in all probability, Glenn Whelan and Wes Hoolahan, while, at some point in proceedings, Stephen Gleeson will hope to pick up his third cap nine years after his second.

“I will make quite a number of changes again,” said O’Neill.

“A couple of players will make their international debuts but I want them to be surrounded by a few players of experience so they don’t feel kind of out of it.”

Barring injury ruling out any of the established names, the conventional wisdom has it that there might be, at most, two places genuinely up for grabs in O’Neill’s France 2016 squad, with Shane Duffy and Harry Arter — the latter despite missing these Easter games through injury — regarded as the likeliest lads to break through.

Despite the fact that the highly-rated Jack Byrne was invited to train with the senior squad last week, the prospects of any of the current Irish U21 side being fast-tracked into the Euros panel appear dead in the water, after O’Neill was clearly less than impressed with what he saw in Waterford on Wednesday night when Noel King’s team were soundly beaten 4-1 by Italy in a European qualifier.

“They have definitely got a bit of work to do,” he said.

“Sometimes losing the games doesn’t bother me as much as the performance of individuals. That is what I am looking at.

“It would be nice for them to be going to the competitions but overall it is the quality of the individual performance that I’m looking at.”

And on the fact that only five home-bred players featured in the starting XI against the Italians, O’Neill remarked: “It is more of a long-term concern, if that is the right word to use. That is something we are trying to address.”

Meanwhile, the senior squad were given a day off yesterday before they resume training this morning in Abbotstown in preparation for tomorrow evening’s game against a Slovakian side who arrive in Dublin on the back of a scoreless home draw with Latvia on Friday.