Martin O'Neill defends James McCarthy's playing time for Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has denied suggestions by Everton boss Ronald Koeman that James McCarthy played too many minutes during the October internationals.

After five weeks out with a thigh injury, McCarthy played 171 minutes in the space of three days as Republic of Ireland earned wins over both Georgia and Moldova.

However, O'Neill has said that the Toffees midfielder had made himself available and was fit enough to nearly complete two matches in quick succession.

In response to Koeman, he told reporters: "I totally refute that as well too obviously, getting an opportunity to respond. Considering that James had declared himself fit, he played the first game.

"He didn't come off through injury [against Moldova], he came off through tiredness and remarkably he actually trained on the very day at Everton that the manager was bleating about it."

McCarthy has been named in the squad for the game in Austria but O'Neill has admitted that he faces a race against time to recover from a hamstring injury.