With so many injuries in the squad, Martin O’Neill has some big decisions to make for the crunch Wales tie.
Harry Arter, Ciaran Clark, Wes Hoolahan, Shane Duffy and Robbie Brady will all miss the game, meaning that the options are numbered.
Turning this sow ear into a silk purse fit enough to take on the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey is no mean feat, but former Republic of Ireland international Andy Reid did a decent job with his chosen XI. He talked through his selection on SportsJOE Live.
“The centre-backs are probably the two centre-backs because there’s nobody else, really. I don’t mean that disrespectfully to them, but literally everybody else is injured.”
“You need a little bit of creativity in the forward areas, so that’s why I picked Aiden McGeady in that area. I think he is creative, he’s been having a decent season so far. So I think he would be in there. James McClean has been putting in good performances.”
The one thing that stands out in his XI is the massive Shane Long-shaped void in the attack. Reid believes that the Tipperary man just hasn’t clocked up enough field time this season to earn a starting place, but he feels that Long could make a serious impact off the bench.
“Up front, I would play Jon Walters ahead of Shane Long. I think that Shane is a player that needs match fitness and match sharpness to bring out the best in him, and he hasn’t really been playing much at Southampton.”
“Jonathan Walters has done a good job for Ireland and he’s always a threat, so I would do that. Last maybe 20/25 minutes, if you put on Shane Long with his pace over the top and with his ability in the air and his finishing ability, then you would fancy him to do something in the last 20 minutes. It would be good to keep him for the last 20/25 minutes if things aren’t going well or if we need a goal.”
Check it out in episode two of SportsJOE Live from about the 42 minute mark.
