Updated at 19.14
MARTIN O’NEILL WAS reluctant to entertain speculation today about who would start in goal for Sunday’s pivotal World Cup qualifier against Austria.
Regular Ireland number one Darren Randolph has had a difficult time at club level recently. Despite playing much of the season for West Ham, he was dropped towards the end of the campaign in favour of Spanish goalkeeper Adrián.
Keiren Westwood, meanwhile, has impressed for Sheffield Wednesday in recent times, featuring regularly for the side throughout the 2016-17 season, while being regarded by many pundits as the best stopper in the Championship.
Against Uruguay last Sunday, both goalkeepers played 45 minutes. Randolph was partially at fault for the visitors’ goal, coming and failing to claim a ball into the box, with Atletico Madrid’s José Giménez rising highest to head home.
After the game on Sunday, O’Neill suggested he had a difficult decision to make in terms of which of the two players would start against Austria, but the Ireland boss refused to elaborate on the issue when asked about it at a pre-match press conference earlier today.
I’m not going to be part of your debate at the end of it all,” he said. “I have some choices to make during the course of the build-up to the game and that is good for the Republic of Ireland itself, as that is always wanted. We didn’t want people stepping into the side and thinking that they own it for the next couple of years.
“If you play well enough in the games, then well done to you, but I’m not part of the speculation.
I’ve been in this game a fairly lengthy time. I’ve made a couple of big calls, I’ve made a couple of big calls here in my time as manager of the Republic of Ireland and I think that is part of my job.”
Having beaten Austria 1-0 in Vienna last November, in many people’s eyes Ireland are favourites going in to the game at the Aviva Stadium this weekend, but O’Neill played down this suggestion.
We have to take the crowd with us, we have to give them something to cheer and really it is up to us… It seems strange that we could be favourites against Austria (because) it is less than two years ago when they won almost all of their qualifying games to get into the Euros and were being touted about being one of the best sides in Europe.
“They still have top-quality players playing. They have players playing Champions League football and so it will be a tough, tough game for us naturally.
But as you said, the bit of confidence that we got from the game against Uruguay shouldn’t be a hindrance.
Having started as one of the favourites to progress from the group, Austria have got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a rocky start. They currently sit fourth in Group D, four points off joint leaders Serbia and Ireland, who both have 11 points.
Amid their indifferent form, there has also been talk of unrest in the camp. Red Bull Salzburg full-back Andreas Ulmer made himself unavailable for the game, as it coincides with his wedding day, with coach Marcel Koller subsequently revealing the player would no longer be considered for the national team.
O’Neill, though, is not paying too much heed to these rumours regarding Ireland’s opponents.
I’ve got to tell you this, I really do take that with a pinch of salt because so many times down throughout the years, situations like that seem to develop and it’s exactly the opposite when you get on to the field of play.
“Despite the fact that (Austria) didn’t cover themselves in glory in the Euros themselves, their qualification was really, really fantastic, so I thought they would have a point to prove starting off in the World Cup qualification games.
They have probably dropped a couple of points that they maybe didn’t expect — maybe all three against us, which was not on the agenda. They were strong favourites that night and that was only a few months ago, so they might be disappointed with their haul of points at the moment.
“They have to come and probably try to win the game themselves to get into it and really it is up to us to try to keep that points differential between us, so I think it’s all to play for.
I still think they are a top-quality nation.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill also expressed confidence that Burnley’s Jeff Hendrick can play whatever position is required for the team. The 25-year-old Dubliner began the Uruguay match in an attacking midfield role, before operating in a more defensive area once Wes Hoolahan came on in the second half.
I ask the players themselves what are the positions that they like to play in. Jeff, Robbie Brady and their stock answer always is that as long as they’re in the team they don’t mind where they play. Of course players have favourite positions, though, and I think Jeff is adept and strong enough to play in that role that he started off in the other night.
“I think that he found himself in the game against Austria almost covering a sort of right-hand sided position. I thought that he did that very well for us, particularly defensively and at club level, he wants to really impose himself, not just at the club he is playing for but in the Premier League. Robbie’s exactly the same. It’s nice to have them because they are reasonably adaptable.”
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