Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter pulls out of Republic of Ireland squad

Bournemouth's Harry Arter has withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for this week's friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia.

The central midfielder returned to action for the Cherries after two games out in Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, but suffered a recurrence of an Achilles problem and had to be substituted at half time.

Arter has only ever made one substitute appearance for the Boys in Green, but national assistant manager Roy Keane insisted that missing this week's double-header would not hurt his chances of going to Euro 2016 as he will be included for their next friendly against the Netherlands in May.

Keane told reporters: "It's unfortunate because I'm sure he's desperate to get one or two games under his belt but he's playing most weeks for Bournemouth. It's disappointing but it's part of the game. Hopefully he'll have a chance to get involved for the Dutch game.

"It's not the end of the world and there won't be any doors shut on him because he has the benefit of playing most weeks, and more importantly we're hoping it's not a serious injury."

Arter, 26, has scored one goal in 19 Premier League appearances in his debut top-flight season.