O’Neill banks on regulars against Poland

Martin O'Neill says he has given up any hope of Tottenham striker Harry Kane playing for Ireland but insists he is still exploring a number of other possibilities for the future.

Just one new player, Harry Arter, has been included in O'Neill's 35-strong squad for this month's key European Championship qualifier against Poland.

But the eligibility of the 25- year-old’s Bournemouth team mate, Callum Wilson, is currently being confirmed while the manager says he has been talks with a number of players and their representatives about declaring for Ireland.

Hopes had been raised briefly about Kane when a third party connected to the player got in touch to express an interest in a call-up for the striker.

New sponsorship

But the player’s club form then sparked a media campaign for him to receive an England call-up and he subsequently made it clear that he would be delighted to receive one.

"It would have been really nice," said the Ireland manager as he named his squad for the Poland game in a Bank of Ireland branch to mark the company's new sponsorship of the FAI in a deal believed to be worth in the region of €150,000 over four years.

“There’s a fairly decent chance he might have had a few caps for us before he actually makes his debut for England considering the way he’s playing but he said he wanted to play for England and that has remained the same. Fine, if that’s the case.”

O’Neill did have a few options at this stage in terms of bring in new faces but felt that there was nobody bar Arter whose form made a compelling case for inclusion ahead of such a big game.

Even the 25-year-old midfielder is not yet sure of making it over to Dublin as part of the slimmed down squad but O’Neill sounded well disposed towards bringing him in, saying: “it’s a chance to have a look at him and I think he deserves that opportunity”.

Damien Delaney has not even made the extended list and while the manager says he and the Crystal Palace defender have had "a good conversation" after which the Corkman said he would make himself available if required, it seems that, at 33, the player prefers to concentrate on extending his club career as long as he does not feature more prominently in O'Neill's plans. So his international career might well, in effect, be over.

With Kane not coming to the rescue and Patrick Bamford apparently intent on pursuing an England career at this point too, O’Neill’s attacking options remain unchanged and so, having been dropped for the game in Scotland, Robbie Keane, is firmly in contention to return against the Poles.

Best scorer

“Robbie is our best scorer, let’s be fair,” says O’Neill. “His experience, his goal getting, his canniness . . .is an absolute asset for us even now and you could not be without him.

“It would be nice to think that some other people might come up and take his place but just look at the record. For us at this minute, even at 34 years of age, he is still valuable. We have to try and find a goal; we have to find a goal to win a game, particularly at home with the onus on us to attack Poland. And Robbie Keane’s record is there for all to see.”

In midfield, the hope is that Ireland will be boosted by the return of James McCarthy but the midfielder has barely featured for Ireland since the summer and Roberto Martinez has prompted some puzzlement by suggesting that some of the player’s fitness issues this season relate to time spent away on international duty so nothing is being taken for granted.

“I watched him on March 1st, saw him play against Arsenal and he looked fine. But Everton have a pretty tough schedule between now and us meeting up again, they’ve got the European games, they’re out in Kiev, so we’ll have to see. Everton are desperately . . .they’ll go as strong as possible in those two games and himself and Seamus will have to start those matches, I can only assume that so we’ll have to wait and see. At this minute, though, it’s fine.”

Stephen Ward looks set to be available for the game with the 29-year-old edging back towards full fitness after fracturing his ankle at the start of December.

Ward has been on the bench for Burnley’s last three games but it’s far from clear whether he will actually get any competitive action under his belt before returning to Dublin.

Aiden McGeady should be available too despite some lingering pain in his knee that is the result of a bruised bone but the manager sounded far less confident regarding Robbie Brady who has, it seems, been included at this point because he has not himself given up on making a faster than expected return from a calf problem.

“Robbie desperately, desperately wants to play,” says O’Neill. “It is a calf injury and I don’t know about time but he said: ‘don’t rule me out, please, I really am dead keen’ which really was nice to hear. He said: ‘give me every opportunity,’ which I fully intend to do.”