Saturday 7 November 2015 18:05, UK
Republic of Ireland defender John O'Shea is struggling to be fit for the Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring injury.
The 34-year-old Sunderland skipper has not played since limping off during the derby victory over Newcastle on October 25, and was missing from the starting line-up for Saturday's Premier League clash with Southampton.
O'Shea is suspended for the first leg in Zenica next Friday evening following his sending off in Poland last month, but had hoped to return for the second leg in Dublin three days later.
When asked if he thought O'Shea would be able to link up with the Ireland squad, Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce said: "No, I don't think so, but he will be talking to them. I wouldn't have thought that, with the recurrence in his hamstring, he would be anywhere near available.
"He's not been able to get fit for us in two weeks, so he's not going to get fit with a hamstring in 10 days. Sadly for us today, he was missing and sadly for them.
"He got through training all right yesterday and was selected to play, but felt it this morning, so we took him out."
