Town striker David McGoldrick could still be involved in the Republic of Ireland’s two-legged World Cup play-off against Denmark, manager Martin O’Neill having revealed that the 29-year-old, who is on standby, has a “long-standing groin problem” and that he will speak to him regarding his fitness later in the week.
Yesterday, O’Neill announced a reduced squad for the tie against the Danes, who added Blues left-back Jonas Knudsen to their party on Sunday, with McGoldrick not included.
Explaining his absence, O’Neill, whose assistant is ex-Town boss Roy Keane, said: "David’s had a niggling groin. I was speaking to him and we’ll see how he is. There’s still room on the plane.
"We’ll have a look at it anyway. I think he’s a wee bit disappointed not making the bench the last time but, listen, he’s there, he has a bit of a long-standing groin problem and maybe the extra couple of days for him will help. I said I’d give him a shout on Thursday, see how he is.”
McGoldrick, who has won six Ireland caps without scoring, was left out of the matchday 18 for the penultimate World Cup group match against Moldova and subsequently asked to be released from the squad as he similarly wasn’t going to be involved in the final qualifier against Wales.
Ireland face the Danes at the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen on Saturday with the second match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin next Tuesday.