Sean Maguire is facing a nervy wait to discover the extent of a hamstring injury that forced him out of Preston North End's 2-2 draw with Fulham just five minutes after he'd found the net.
The Kilkenny man set up the first at Craven Cottage and doubled the Lilywhites' lead on 25 minutes.
But his afternoon was over by the half-hour mark as he hobbled out of the action, with Preston boss Alex Neill afterwards confirming: "Sean felt his hamstring so we are just hoping that’s not serious because he’s a big player for us."
Maguire made his long-awaited senior Republic of Ireland debut in the closing minutes of the 2-0 defeat of Moldova last week, and was an unused substitute in the 1-0 win in Wales three days later.
📸 @Seani_Maguire_doubled North End's lead on 25 minutes, it's a goal and an assist for the Irishman this afternoon! 🔥
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) October 14, 2017
0-2 #pnefc pic.twitter.com/xvGfLknYfP
With Shane Long and Scott Hogan out of form, and Jon Walters injured, Martin O'Neill's attacking options have been limited and the former Cork City striker would have had realistic hopes of featuring at some stage in the World Cup play-offs in November.
He'll now hope the injury is not serious enough to shatter his dream of firing his country to Russia.
Ireland will discover who they face when the draw is made on Tuesday at 1pm. As an unseeded team we can get either Italy, Croatia, Denmark or Switzerland.
