European Qualifiers: Martin O'Neill says Roy Keane altercation has not distracted Republic of Ireland
Thursday 13 November 2014 21:51, UK
Martin O’Neill says the latest episode in the Roy Keane saga has not been a distraction for his Republic of Ireland players.
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Ireland touched down in Glasgow ahead of Friday night's crunch European Qualifier with Scotland at Celtic Park after a tumultuous 24 hours, with the assistant manager at the centre of it.
Questions on the alleged incident, which prompted Keane to ask for Gardai to be called to the team hotel in Portmarnock, were understandably to the fore as O'Neill and skipper Robbie Keane spoke to the press on Thursday evening, but the message from the manager was unequivocal.
He said: "It's only a distraction, that's all it was. I made a statement earlier on today and there's not really much more I can talk about.
"But I think we are fine, I think the players are fine, I think the man in question is fine too and we are ready to go."
Quizzed further about his assistant, O'Neill replied: "He's okay - he's actually here with us now, so if we could end the press conference right now it would be great because you will catch him."
Double blow
Ireland were dealt a double blow earlier on Thursday after midfielders James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan were both ruled out due to injury.
I think we are fine, I think the players are fine, I think the man in question is fine too and we are ready to go.
Whelan was always a major doubt after breaking a bone in his leg during last month’s draw in Germany, but there was some positive news about Glasgow-born McCarthy as scans confirmed no significant damage to his hamstring.
O'Neill said: "James, I suppose, realistically was always an outside chance. He has improved immensely since Sunday. In fact, he went for another scan and the scan is actually quite clear, so that is really good news for the lad.
"But really I suppose since it is a muscle injury, then it was a concern for us that he needed to probably do something today and see what sort of reaction he had."
Darron Gibson and Jeff Hendrick are the main candidates to plug the sizeable gap left in the heart of O'Neill's team, although he has also handed a key role to Stephen Quinn in recent games.
Ireland sit joint top of Group D alongside Poland with seven points from their opening three matches, with Scotland and Germany just three points behind.
Victory at Celtic Park would provide a massive boost to their hopes of making it to Euro 2016, although O'Neill insists it is not a must-win game.
He said: "When we finish tomorrow night, we will have played three pretty difficult away games and will still be in the hunt regardless, so what we do in the Aviva Stadium in 2015 will probably determine everything.
"But of course, it's still a very, very, very significant match on Friday night."
Watch Scotland v Ireland live on Sky Sports 5 HD on Friday from 7pm
