Martin O'Neill reveals Seamus Coleman is 'still pretty down' as he prepares to begin recovery from broken leg
Republic of Ireland captain Coleman suffered a double fracture of his leg following a challenge from Wales’ Neil Taylor during the 0-0 draw in Dublin on Friday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Martin O’Neill has revealed Seamus Coleman is still “pretty down” following his horror double leg break but has backed him to return “as good as ever”.
Republic of Ireland captain Coleman suffered a double fracture of his leg following a challenge from Wales’ Neil Taylor during the 0-0 draw in Dublin on Friday.
The 28-year-old has successfully undergone surgery and now faces a lengthy recovery period which could keep him sidelined for as long as six months.
And ahead of the friendly with Iceland on Tuesday O’Neill admitted the defending is facing a long road back.
"I think he's just beginning to come to terms with it," he said. "I saw him yesterday and he's still pretty down about it.
"He's not in as much pain, the operation went very well, and it's just a matter of coming to terms with it.
"As Seamus mentioned to me the other day, he just said that it has happened now, he can't do anything about it, and it's what he does now in the next few months that is very, very important."
O’Neill watched Henrik Larsson recover from his own serious injury and backed his man to do the same.
"Before I went to Celtic, about five or six months before that, Henrik Larsson had a very serious injury," he added.
"He recovered magnificently and the injury didn't bother him again from then until the end of his career, so players have recovered.
"Great players have broken their legs and come back, and Seamus, obviously it's very early for him to start considering all those things, but he is positive.
"Naturally, as I mentioned earlier at the start, he's down, as he would be, as the realisation that he is going to be out of action for quite some considerable time has dawned on him. Those type of things don't just take five minutes to get over.
"But he's very strong, he's got a lot of good people around him, his family is very, very strong as well, and he is positive that he will be back and as good as ever."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments