Town boss Roy Keane says Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland management team treated defender Darren O’Dea in an unprofessional manner by ignoring a request for him to play only 45 minutes of Wednesday’s friendly against Norway in Dublin. The on-loan Celtic man, playing his first game since undergoing a knee operation, was still on the field after 67 minutes when he was subbed suffering from a tight hamstring.
Keane said: "Darren O’Dea’s come back from Ireland with a tight hamstring. He hasn’t played for six weeks, we made a request that he has 45 minutes and he plays for 67 and comes off with a tight hamstring.
"That’s where we are at the moment, things aren’t going our way and people are taking the Mick out of us, we’re not happy on that side of it. But we’ll be OK.”
Keane had hoped that playing 45 minutes of an international friendly would benefit the 23-year-old as he returned from his surgery: "He’s been injured for us for six weeks, so we thought if he goes over and gets a half that’s brilliant and I don’t want to stop my players going away and playing for their countries.
"They’d probably have left him on for the full 90 if his hamstring hadn’t tightened up. But that’s what you have to put up with sometimes and we’re not happy with that.”
Keane says the Blues aren’t the only ones likely to be less than impressed: "It’s unprofessional to treat a player like that. We can be disappointed but I’m pretty sure Celtic will be as well.
"He picked up the previous injury when he was away with Ireland and they took him to Armenia. After getting off the plane, having been on a six or seven-hour flight, he was told they didn’t think he was 100% fit and sent him back here.”
The Blues boss says O’Dea had a decent enough game before succumbing to the injury and is in with a chance of being involved at Hull on Saturday: "Darren did OK, he was a bit rusty after being out for six weeks, the plan was that he got some minutes under his belt and made himself available for us this weekend.
"Let’s see how Darren is on Friday, you never know, he might be fit. But for a player to come off with a tight hamstring [in those circumstances], it’s ridiculous.”
Photo: ITFC