WITH JUST EIGHT days to go until Ireland play the first of two World Cup qualifiers in quick succession, Jon Walters has emerged as a significant doubt.
The 33-year-old striker, who joined Burnley from Stoke City during the summer, picked up an injury to his ankle in the midweek Carabao Cup win over his former club Blackburn Rovers.
Walters was replaced by Chris Wood just before half-time and he has now been ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Tottenham at Wembley Stadium.
“Jon injured his ankle ligaments, but isn’t as serious as it could have been, which is good news,” Burnley boss Sean Dyche said earlier today.
He still won’t be back immediately, but there was good news from the scan and we are hopeful it was a pretty straight forward situation.”
Club mate Jeff Hendrick is also a doubt for Burnley’s upcoming game due to a thigh problem.
“Jeff is another one we will have to keep an eye on,” Dyche added. ” He has a tight thigh, so we’ll be monitoring him over the next few days and see what happens.”
Both key players for Ireland, Walters and Hendrick are scheduled to report to training in Dublin on Monday as Martin O’Neill’s side prepare for next Saturday’s Group D qualifier away to Georgia, before they face leaders Serbia at the Aviva Stadium three days later.
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