Switzerland coach’s policy sees omission of Gökhan Inler

It was not hard to sense Martin O’Neill’s relief on Thursday as he spoke of the fact that Aiden McGeady is back playing again after having secured a loan move from Everton to Sheffield Wednesday.

For Vladimir Petkovic and Gökhan Inler, the chance to make a move that brought more football is long gone and the Switzerland coach has painted himself into something of a corner with regard to his policy of not picking players who are not playing regularly for their clubs.

Inler is still listed in many places as the Swiss captain but, having joined Leicester City last summer for around €7 million where the fee alone suggested almost guaranteed game-time at a side expected to be struggling, he has instead been left behind by the team’s runaway success.

The 31-year-old midfielder started just three games for the Premier League leaders before beginning to drift to the margins.

Now, his problems at club level threaten to seriously impact on his international career and having been omitted from the squad for Friday’s game in Dublin, he looks increasingly likely to miss out on the European Championships too.

‘Full fitness’

“It is not easy to leave out a player of his quality who has 90 (89) caps,” said Petkovic last night, “but we have talked and everyone knows that if things change and he is playing more for his club then there is a chance that he can rejoin the squad.

“It isn’t just about him,” the former Lazio coach continued. “The idea is the same for every other player, I want them to make it as difficult for me as possible to decide ahead of the tournament. If he is in full fitness and playing regularly then he can contribute a lot but this is a chance for the other players to show what they can do.”

It is a very big call by a coach who is not so richly blessed with talented players that he can lightly exclude somebody of Inler’s experience.

All the more so given that a few of his players struggle at times to retain their places at largely middle-ranking clubs across Europe and so the policy has the potential to cause further problems for him further down the line.

Their Fifa ranking might have flattered them somewhat but the Swiss looked to be a side with significant potential before the last World Cup. They have not really delivered, though, even if they do make a healthy habit of beating the sorts of side they should be better than.

In Brazil they scored a lot of group goals and won two games to reach the second round where Argentina needed extra time to beat them 1-0.

Straight forward

Since then, qualifying for France was a straightforward but largely uninspiring affair. They finished second to England in a group that also included Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino.

Defeating the minnows plus Slovenia at home was enough to see them through but having been drawn in one of the less daunting groups at the finals – France, Romania and Albania – Pektovic will be under pressure to deliver at least a place in the second round again.

If they are to pull it off, Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri, their top scorer in qualifying with four, is likely to play a key role but sadly the Stoke City striker looks virtually certain to miss this game with a hamstring problem.

Watford's Valon Behrami is likely to captain the side despite not having been well enough to train last night while Grant Xhaka, whose form for Borussia Monchengladbach has apparently prompted interest from Arsenal, will start alongside him.

There may also be an opportunity later on to have a look at Shani Tarashaj, the well regarded 21-year-old who is back on loan at Zurich side Grasshoppers having recently been bought by Everton.