Stephen Kenny has been dealt a blow ahead of his first games in charge of Ireland with Roy Hodgson confirming that an injury sustained by James McCarthy is worse than was first feared.
In a pre-season friendly for Crystal Palace earlier this week, McCarthy, who joined the club from Everton in 2019, was reported to be fit despite limping from the field in a 2-1 defeat of Oxford United.
However, with Palace taking on Charlton Athletic in a subsequent friendly this afternoon, another win for Hodgson's side coincided with McCarthy's absence and a gloomy indication of the injury he sustained mid-week.
"It wasn't good, it was a nasty bang that he took on his calf," explained Hodgson to the Crystal Palace website after today's 3-0 win in which the Irish midfielder didn't feature.
"He hadn't really recovered for today's game [and] he has to go report for Ireland tomorrow because they want to have a look at him as well."
Oxford United's Marcus McGuane (left) and Crystal Palace's James McCarthy battle for the ball during the pre-season friendly match at Selhurst Park, London.Due to travel for international duty on Sunday as planned, it is nevertheless feared that the injury may rule James McCarthy out of Kenny's consideration for Ireland's game with Bulgaria on Thursday.
"I'm not certain he'll be fit to even play for them," remarked Hodgson of the injury. "I think he'll need more time because it was such a bad bruise on his calf that it might mean he'll be out for a little more time.
"We won't know until he's reported for Ireland but he certainly wasn't fit for today."
A player who had appeared disillusioned with the Irish set-up in the latter days of Mick McCarthy's second tenure in charge, James McCarthy has been regarded as a potentially important figure in Kenny's midfield plans.
After Ireland's first game against Bulgaria, Kenny's side will take on Finland in one week's time.
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