Coleman eager to make up for lost time

Full-back Seamus Coleman is desperate to make up for lost time as the Republic of Ireland attempt to revive their European Under-21s Championship qualifying campaign.

Ireland face Georgia at Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening and Switzerland in Waterford next Tuesday having taken just one point from their two games to date.

Last month’s 1-1 draw in Estonia followed a 3-0 home defeat by Turkey, and Don Givens’ men need to start their points tally ticking over in earnest if they are to stand a chance of qualifying.

Everton full-back Coleman said: “Definitely. We really need to get some points out of these two games. I know all the lads will be going out to win the two games.

“If we can do that, we will be sitting nicely again. We do have a good squad of players and we haven’t won a game yet. But we have two games coming up in a week and hopefully we can win the two of them because we have a good enough team.

“It would be nice to qualify for it this year, so we really want to win the two games.”

Coleman, 20, is also itching to get back into action on a personal level after enduring a miserable time on the injury front.

The Donegal-born defender got his big chance in January when he made his move to Goodison Park from Sligo Rovers. He managed to force his way into the first-team squad in pre-season, only to be laid low by a bizarre injury which might have cost him the big toe on his right foot.

He said: “It was just a blister which got infected and the infection nearly went to the bone. According to the physios, it could have been disastrous. They didn’t tell me at the time, they told me after it was all alright, but it was quite serious.

“They told me if I was maybe playing part-time football or on holiday when it happened, it could have been a lot worse. But they got to it in time.”