We've a world class player missing ourselves in Seamus Coleman - O'Neill reflects on Moldova win and crucial clash in Cardiff to come

A win against Wales is all Ireland need to do, but for Chris Coleman’s side the game is also likely ‘a must win’ with the permutations not favouring the Welsh should they draw on Monday and manage to finish in second place.

 

In one of the shocks of the night, Serbia fell to Austria 3-2 in a game which is unlikely to have any impact on the final positions in Group D.

 

“I’m not surprised Austria beat Serbia, nothing in the group has surprised me,” said O’Neill speaking after the 2-0 win for Ireland over Moldova on Friday night at the Aviva Stadium.

 

“I think that at the very beginning I said it was going to be very, very tight. The sixth team in Georgia were actually pretty good, as good as any sixth team in any of the other groups. We were all constantly taking points off each other and then of course it was going to become more difficult.”

 

Shane Long had yet another difficult night in front of goal with one of the questions being put to O’Neill that maybe there was the sowing of some doubt in his mind around whether the former Cork City man was going to be able to rekindle his past magic for club and country alike any time soon.

 



“He’s a centre forward and centre forwards have to score goals. He’s just remarked to me going into the tunnel there that he can’t buy a goal at the moment. He had some really good chances, chances that he would normally have taken.

 

There were times on the pitch that Long looked as if he would love nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up and suck him back to a time when the goals would flow freely for him or when he sent a fear down the German’s throat on that special day two years ago.

 

“I think sometimes your confidence is affected by it. There were some really good chances created for him. He had three that on another day maybe he would have scored.”

 



As is typically the case with a Martin O’Neill press conference, the 65-year-old manager will always try and have a sly witted joke thrown into many of his responses. This was such the case when it was thrown out there that maybe Long’s place could be under threat to the fantastic double goal scoring hero Daryl Murphy.

 

“Who knows,” before he continued on whilst heaping praise on his inform striker saying; “Murphy did really, really well. The second goal that he scored was in particularly brilliant. He was leaning back a little bit. I’m really pleased for him. He’s normally at sixty minutes calling for a stretcher anyway so I think he was surprised to still be playing at seventy minutes!”

 

Callum O’Dowda was superb in the victory, constantly attacking the Moldovan defence, whilst managing to also turn play maker on numerous occasions. He linked in well with Wes Hoolahan in supplying plenty of chances for Murphy and Long throughout the game.

 

 

“My advice to him at club level was to play in people, he can manoeuvre the ball well and he’s got a little bit of pace. I think playing at club level has helped his confidence and his general fitness. He’s a really, really good lad and I’ve a lot of time for him.

 

“The most important thing is to win the game, that’s number one. I certainly didn’t want to take them off, especially after Murphy had got his two goals. If we’d got the three goals I certainly would have considered bringing some players on but when there is the possibility of a team scoring and then having a nervy ten minutes at the end.”

 

Looking ahead to Monday night’s fixture in Cardiff, O’Neill was adamant that he feels that the absent of Gareth Bale will do little to aid his side in their quest to come out on top seeing as the Boys in Green will continue to be without their captain Seamus Coleman.

 

“We’ve a world class player missing ourselves in Seamus Coleman. In my mind he’s as big of a loss to us as Gareth Bale is to Wales. Gareth Bale is a top class player, a world class player. I think him not playing of course helps (us) but Wales have been able to win matches without him in the past.”

 

It is of course also the first time these two sides will face off since that horrific injury to the Irish skipper back in March but O’Neill hopes that there will be no bad feelings that might boil over between the two teams and take away from the importance of the fixture itself.

 

“I hope not,” replied O’Neill when asked on whether the tackle on Coleman could cast a shadow over this fixture.

 

“Naturally it’s a big game. Two teams that have to win the game is not a bad thing in my view.”