John O’Shea has wished his Republic of Ireland team-mate Seamus Coleman a speedy recovery after the full-back was stretched off with a broken leg against Wales last night.
While the 2018 World Cup qualifier between Ireland at Wales at the Aviva Stadium finished goalless, Coleman’s injury on 69 minutes lit the fuse for a tempestuous atmosphere in Dublin.
With the game finely balanced midway through the second period, the Everton defender and Ireland skipper was hacked down by Neil Taylor, which resulted in the Swansea City man being shown a straight red.
It was a major incident which overshadowed a crucial qualifier for both sides, as Wales’ hopes of reaching next summer’s tournament were dealt a blow.
Gareth Bale went close twice for Chris Coleman’s men before Taylor’s dismissal swung the pendulum in Ireland’s favour.
Martin O’Neill’s side pushed for a late winner but had to settle for a point, which keeps them in second place in Group D four points ahead of Wales after five games.
Speaking post-match, Sunderland skipper O’Shea, 35, shared his disappointment over the stalemate but reserved a special mention to the injured Coleman.
“We’re just a little bit disappointed but were still [joint] top of the group, it’s a clean sheet,” he said.
“When you have the extra man, you’re hoping to create more chances than we did. It kind of encourages Wales to sit back and get extra men in the box.
““We were close but we probably didn’t have enough good chances to really deserve the three points.
“Wales, it’s a derby game, they are close games, there is very little between the teams and we always knew we had to be careful because they have a certain player [Gareth Bale] who wasn’t bad on the counter attack and he nearly punished us there once.
“Fingers crossed for Seamus, it looked a bad one but we’ll just wait and see,” he continued.
“Our thoughts are with him. We know the type of boy he is, he’ll come back bigger and stronger as he always [does].
“He has a fantastic attitude.”
