Koeman: McCarthy was not protected

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has once again hit out at the Republic of Ireland's treatment of James McCarthy during the recent international break.

McCarthy was named in the squad for the games against Wales and Iceland despite struggling with a hamstring injury, which had prevented him from playing for his club since March 5.

Despite failing to train for the first two days, McCarthy remained with the panel and was eventually named in the starting line-up for Friday's World Cup qualifier against Wales, only to be withdrawn shortly before kick-off after aggravating the hamstring injury in the warm-up.

Earlier this week Koeman claimed both O'Neill and McCarthy went against medical advice and he was far from happy as he face journalists at Friday's press conference.

Reading from a prepared statement, Koeman said: “James had an injury when he reported with Ireland duty last week.

"Our medical team made the Ireland medical team aware of this, of course.

"Everton’s medical team advised extreme caution not only due to the current injury, but also due to the previous injuries.

"The assessment from the Ireland medical team was that it would be high risk for James to play against Wales.

"Then James decided to play for his country, so when asked if he was fit to play, he said he felt was fit and he was selected to start the game by the Ireland manager, who in my opinion, in this instance, was not protecting the player.

"Clearly James was not fit to play. He had trained for only two days with Ireland and he broke down during the warm up.

"He has played only one game from the start in 2017. He did not play for three weeks before the Wales game.

"In my opinion, he would need at least one full week of training sessions to be declared fit and I have spoken to James. He needs to take responsibility of this. It is not the first time."

This is not the first time that Koeman and O'Neill have clashed over McCarthy with the Everton manager accusing his Ireland counterpart of f 'killing the player' after her was selected for both qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova last October, despite missing Everton's previous six games due to a groin injury. 

Leinster's European Champions Cup quarter-final against Wasps on Saturday is live on BT Sport 2, which is available as part of the eir Sport pack.