Martin O'Neill: 'Arkadiusz Milik absence a big boost for Republic of Ireland'

Martin O'Neill has said that Arkadiusz Milik's absence for Poland is a boost for the Republic of Ireland ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier.

The teams meet tomorrow with the winner gaining automatic qualification for the tournament.

"He [Milik] being missing is obviously a blow to Poland. He's a brilliant player, he really has been exceptional, particularly in the tournament. But I don't think they are short of too of many ready-made replacements," O'Neill told reporters.

"I'd say outside the very, very best players playing in the world, [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Lewandowski is in a bracket of a number of players that you would say is not far behind. It's really brilliant when you have someone like that there to rely on.

"He's been exceptional for them and they are going to cause you plenty of problems. But we have to cope with that and try to come through."

Ireland defeated world champions Germany 1-0 on Thursday.