McCarthy: Shane Long 'back where we need him to be'

Mick McCarthy says Shane Long is “back where we need him to be” to stake a claim for a place on the plane to Slovakia, while the manager is prepared to give Ciaran Clark and James McClean as long as he can to see if they are able to recover from injury in time for Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off on March 26.

With Stoke City’s McClean already a doubt, Newcastle United defender Clark added to McCarthy’s worries when he sustained what his club boss Steve Bruce termed a serious-looking ankle injury against Arsenal on Sunday.