Cyrus Christie sat out the Irish squad's first training session of the week on Monday morning due to a hip problem with the Derby County right back rested as a precaution given likelihood that Seamus Coleman will miss Thursday's European Championship qualifier against Germany.
Coleman did some light training by himself as he tries to get himself back for at least one of the games after having missed the best part of a month at Everton with the hamstring injury that also kept him out of the Gibraltar game last month.
Christie came in and did well on this occasion and while David Meyler also performed strongly in the position against Germany in Gelsenkirchen, he is more likely to be used in midfield given that Glenn Whelan is suspended and Stephen Quinn amongst the players absent through injury.
“Seamus has done a little bit of work with the physio and the doctor today,” said Martin O’Neill after training. “Obviously he’s very, very keen to play if he can but we’ll see. It’s a day by day thing. He’s getting better every single day and even though he wasn’t involved with Everton, we’ll have a look at him, see how he’s getting on. As I say, we’ll assess it day by day.”
The Ireland manager said he wasn’t aware of any suggestion by Everton boss Robert Martinez that Coleman wouldn’t make either game, and insisted that if the 26-year-old does miss the encounter with the World champions then he may well still be in contention for the game in Warsaw on Sunday.
“We did that the last time. Seamus felt a bit sore, his hamstring was a bit tight and so he missed out on Gibraltar. Cyrus came in played very, very well. But had he been right for the first match then despite the fact that Cyrus played brilliantly for us, Seamus probably would have played in that game.”
On this occasion, Christie is carrying a minor hip injury himself and while the player himself is absolutely content that, having picked the problem a couple of weeks ago but played for his club over the weekend without any great difficulty, he will be available on Thursday.
O’Neill, however, sounded slightly more circumspect. “His didn’t train today, he just felt he had a little problem with his groin (the player later clarified that it is his hip) but hopefully he will be alright for selection. He thinks he should be alright but we’ll see how he goes.”
James McCarthy apparently seemed to be less than 100 per cent in this opening training session too but, O’Neill suggested: “James is okay. I think he’s alright. James is, I think, when he comes to us, there’s always something that is disconcerting for a day or two but he seems to get through it.”
