Ireland star casts doubt on whether players will accept call-up for Israel game

Well spoken!

Last night's victory over Qatar was interrupted twice in the first half due to pro-Palestinian protests., as they littered the pitch with tennis balls featuring the Palestinian flag.

Post-match, Meath man, McGrath acknowledged the fan protests.

And while he admitted he would do anything for an Ireland cap, he is not sure yet if he could play Israel.

The Hibernian midfielder said: "I’m in and out of the squad. I don’t know if that decision will come or not.

“I’ll have to obviously have a chat with my family because at the end of the day it’s my people but it’s a long way away now but we’ll see when it comes around.

"I think Seamus (Coleman) spoke really well on it, we all don’t agree with what’s going on. Ideally it’s not in our hands. “We don’t know what’s going to happen as the build-up to the game, there’s a lot of permutations that could happen. It’s not a nice situation to be put into.

In quite a stark contrast from his opinions on if he would accept a call-up to play Israel, McGrath outlined how he cut his holidays short to join Heimir's squad.

 “I was in Malaga. I was obviously over the moon, she was over the moon as well. Everybody’s over the moon", explained the Athboy native.

“It was a no-brainer I won’t come in unless my leg is hanging off so and it was a quick turnaround and I had other holidays planned this week.

“My girlfriend actually travelled to Nashville on her own with two of our mates so she was trying to get Wi-Fi on the plane to watch it. 

“I just had to tell her I won’t be on the flight on Thursday! We had a busy summer planned when I found out I was in the original squad.

“But we’ll drop that in the morning if I’m getting another cap playing for the country, because at the end of the day as a kid, that’s all you want to do.

“You’ve got the rest of your life to go on holiday, you might not get this chance again. You have 30 years when you retire to go on holiday. 

“I’m just delighted to get the nod. I have a great relationship with the gaffer and he was quite clear."