MARTIN O’NEILL HAS been dealt a blow ahead of the Ireland’s forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland with the news that Robbie Brady has picked up a calf injury.
The Hull City midfielder sustained the injury in training and is awaiting results of a scan. However, Steve Bruce was far from optimistic in his prognosis, suggesting that the Dubliner “could be out for weeks, months” meaning he is likely to miss the crucial clash against Poland in Dublin on 29 March.
“Brady pulled up with a horrible calf injury [on Friday]. He could be out for weeks, months,” Bruce told reporters. “Unfortunately he’s damaged his calf really, really badly. He couldn’t walk yesterday.”
The 23-year-old endured an injury-disrupted campaign last season but has made 19 league appearances for the Tigers this season. However, he is now set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, new Sligo Rovers signing Morten Nielsen is hoping that the Bit o’ Red can harness the support of their fans in order to make The Showgrounds a difficult venue for opposing teams.
The former Chelsea and AZ Alkmaar striker, who has scored in each of his five pre-season appearances for his new club, is determined to get the supporters behind the team.
“The fans can change a game, if you get a good period and you get the crowd behind you, you are just flying and it’s so difficult for the other team,” Nielsen told Ocean FM.
“And that’s what we want to do, we want to make it difficult for other teams. We want to do that together with the fans, make it difficult for teams to come and play.”
Elsewhere, Cork City boss John Caulfield has lamented his side’s exit from the Munster Senior Cup at the hands of Limerick but hopes that it will serve as a “wake-up call” to his players ahead of the opening Premier Division game against Sligo Rovers on Friday.
“We had opportunities to put the match away but we didn’t take them,” Caulfield said. “But credit to Limerick, they’ve had a lot of young fellows coming in and they played really well.
“It’s disappointing to lose and there are no hiding places but hopefully it’s a wake-up call because it’s going to be a huge match in Sligo next week.”
Originally published at 14.36
Previously you told us he fell in a hole. In fact you based a whole article on this detail, headline and all. And with no info about the specifics of the hole, you opened all sorts of possibilities about the nature of the hole. Was it a deep hole? Is he still in the hole? Etc.
Now there’s no mention of the hole. You quote Bruce saying ‘he pulled up in training’. No mention of ‘he pulled up in training, due to falling in a hole.’
So one of two things has happened:
- I completely imagined the hole thing, and find myself in an advanced state of insanity;
- the initial story of the hole was a complete fabrication, and you jumped on it unverified as it looked like it had conversation potential, and have now erased it from history, delivering this new, possibly more fact based version with a straight face.
Hi Andrew,
The story about the hole was widely reported in various media outlets (and is linked to in the article above, we haven’t erased it at all) and the reason it lacked specifics was because it’s a direct quote from Bruce that he didn’t elaborate on.
However, I think it’s common sense to assume that it was a small hole in the training pitch that caused Brady to land awkwardly and prompted his injury.
The hole thing, ha…
Well done Paul for coming on and explaining yourself.
You/we may not necessarily agree with what’s said but unlike many that hide behind the headlines they write at least he’s had the balls to come out and explain the headline.