Martin O’Neill will wait until matchday to decide whether to start James McCarthy in tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Georgia at the Aviva Stadium [Live, RTÉ2, 7.45pm].
The Everton midfielder has not played for his club since undergoing a groin operation but McCarthy has trained with the Ireland side all week in the build-up to the clash with Georgia.
O’Neill believes that McCarthy is over the injury at this stage but needs to decide whether or not the midfielder is fit to start.
"He's over the injury,” said O’Neill, speaking at this afternoon’s press conference.
“In that aspect, it's more fitness than anything that would be the concern. If selected, he wants to go.
“I’ll have a look at James tomorrow morning, see how he is and see how he has come through today.
Would fitness be a concern? Of course. Lasting the match would be a concern.
"I would listen to the player, and the player has come over here and trained. He hasn't played for a couple of weeks.
“Would fitness be a concern? Of course. Lasting the match would be a concern.”
Everton manager Ronald Koeman spoke last week about his concern for the player who missed five or six weeks of training and said that he hopes that Ireland protect his player.
But O’Neill claims that he would never, and has never, played a player unless they were fully fit and the same would apply to McCarthy.
"If the injury has cleared up, I wouldn't see that as a problem. I've been involved in club management for quite some considerable time, less so as an international manager.
"I have never played anyone who has arrived and not been properly fit, against their will to play.
"That has never been the case and, in fact, as an international manager I've been pretty lenient about those particular things."
Looking ahead to the game, the Ireland manager is convinced that Georgia will offer a real threat, as they proved in the previous Euro 2016 campaign.
But O’Neill conceded that as the home side, the onus was on his team to attack and get on the front foot in the quest for three points.
We’ve had difficult games against them in the past and tomorrow will definitely be no exception.
“We want to get on the front foot and we want to try and go and attack,” said O’Neill.
“We’re playing at home. The onus is on us to try and attack, which is what we have done in the all the games we’ve played at home in my time anyway.
“Sometimes you are driven back, not because you want to be driven back but because the opposition have the ball, so you can’t have it all the time.
“We’ve had difficult games against them in the past and tomorrow will definitely be no exception.”
O’Neill side gained maximum points off Georgia, beating them home and away, albeit by just a single goal in each match, and the manager believes that tomorrow’s opponents will play a big role in deciding this World Cup qualifying group.
“I think it’s a big test,” said O’Neill.
“Anyone who watched the Georgia-Austria game, they caused Austria a lot of problems during the course of the game and could have forced an equaliser and could have scored first in the game.
“And anyone who watched the matches over the last couple of years will know it’s a difficult game. Georgia will take points from teams, without doubt.
“The games are difficult but we have got to deal with that now. It would be great if we had everyone fit and raring to go, but it’s not the case. We’ll deal with it accordingly.
“Every result is important. Every game is important and we have got to be ready.
“We have never been in a position to treat any team [lightly]. And we certainly won’t treat Georgia like that because they have got some excellent players.”
Republic of Ireland v Georgia pre-match press conference
Watch live coverage of the Republic of Ireland v Georgia on RTÉ2 from 1900. Live radio coverage on RTÉ 2fm from 1900.
