Graham Burke will get his chance to strike, says Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill lavished praise on John O’Shea yesterday but, in his usual deadpan style, couldn’t resist a mischievous dig at the retiree’s scoring record for Ireland.

“Well, he mentioned the goal he scored [against Germany]. This will be, what, his 118th cap? And that fantastic record of three goals (laughter). And considering the number of times he went up for corner kicks. In fact, I used to tell him ‘don’t go up John, don’t bother’.”

For the friendly against the USA, O’Neill might just be telling the man of the hour something different on a night when O’Shea will lead out the Irish team and play at least part of the first half, because the manager’s options up front have shrunk yet again with the news Shane Long will be absent with a knee injury.