Roy Keane tells Everton players to ‘toughen up’

Rob Conlon
James McCarthy: Midfielder withdrawn from Ireland squad

Roy Keane has hit out at Everton after James McCarthy withdrew from the Republic of Ireland squad.

Ronald Koeman has previously accused Martin O’Neil of “killing” McCarthy after the midfielder played two international matches in four days shortly after returning from groin surgery.

Ireland boss O’Neil hit back at Koeman’s “bleating”, but McCarthy has since pulled out of the squad to face Austria in a World Cup qualifier, and assistant manager Keane has joined the spat.

“We’ve had a problem with Roberto Martinez previously – I always felt the Everton players were going to turn up on crutches,” he said.

“They shouldn’t be so quick to stop Irish players coming to play for Ireland.

“(Darron Gibson) misses a hell of a lot of games for Everton… so maybe they need to look at their own training schedule.

“I’m not sure when they last won a trophy, so maybe as a club, their players need to toughen up a bit.”