Martin O’Neill says “you just have to curse your luck and get on with it” as Ireland were hit with a raft of injuries head of a crucial World Cup qualifying double-header.
Marc Wilson, Stephen Quinn, Anthony Pilkington, Kevin Doyle, Aiden McGeady, Keiren Westwood and Daryl Murphy are definitely ruled out for the matches with Georgia (Thursday) and Moldova (Sunday), with goalkeeper Ian Lawlor and striker Adam Rooney have been called up as cover.
O'Neill said: "It’s the way it goes, it’s not great, the quick turnaround as well, [the game on] Thursday then fly out the next day to Moldova.
"It happens, you have to curse your luck and get on with it."
Both Quinn and Murphy made sizeable contributions away to Serbia in the opening match, with Murphy bagging a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw.
Lawlor is promoted from the Under-21 squad, while Rooney has been in prolific form for Aberdeen for the last two seasons.
A number of players are struggling with injury concerns and will be assessed in the build-up to the game, including James McCarthy, who is unlikely to feature on Thursday at the Aviva Stadium against the Georgians.
Harry Arter has remained with Bournemouth for a scan on a groin injury, while Eunan O'Kane is also considered a doubt.
Irish players 'dropping like flies' ahead of Georgia clash, says @Corktod https://t.co/TQacvrYpGQ
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) October 3, 2016
Delighted to be called into @FAIreland senior squad! ⚽️🍀
— Ian Lawlor (@Ianlawlor) October 3, 2016
O'Neill added: "A reasonably decent friend of mine who knows nothing about football spoke to me a few days ago and he mentioned, 'If you can put six points on the board...'. I nearly throttled him.
"It's not like that. These games are difficult for us."
Asked about the chances of McCarthy being involved, he said: "He's been recovering from the operation and has done a lot of work. He's pretty optimistic, but we'll see how that goes over the next two days.
"We don't have much time between now and Thursday. If he gets a couple of training sessions in, that would be beneficial for him and useful for us."
If the game in Moldova represents something of a step into the unknown for Ireland, they know all about Georgia from the last campaign.
O'Neill's men kicked off their bid for Euro 2016 qualification with a 2-1 win in Tbilisi in September 2014 courtesy of McGeady's last-gasp strike, and Jonathan Walters' goal was enough to claim three more points at the Aviva Stadium 12 months later.
The Georgians lost their opening game against Austria 2-1 at home and will arrive in Dublin intent on redressing the balance.
O'Neill said: "It's a hard game for us, I don't see it any other way. The two games we had with them were really difficult matches. We have to try to win the game.
"Late on in the game against Austria they put on immense pressure and with the problems we have here, we just have to cope with it, get on with it and play really strongly to win."
