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Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny avoided getting involved in a war of words with the unhappy Jose Mourinho after Matt Doherty’s positive Covid-19 test.
Positive tests for Spurs defender Doherty and James McClean have brought the list of Irish players affected by Covid-19 problems to 12 in recent weeks.
A subsequent and apparently sarcastic Instagram post from Mourinho spoke of “total security” in national teams.
“My sympathy would be first of all for the players,” said the coach of the Republic.
Asked directly about Mourinho’s comments as he spoke ahead of Wednesday’s Nations League relegation battle against Bulgaria in Dublin, Kenny replied: “First of all, I sympathize with the players themselves as it’s quite traumatic for a player to contract the coronavirus in a situation like this and the effect on their families, I think sometimes it’s lost.
“Secondly, yes, it’s not ideal for clubs, we have to acknowledge that it’s not ideal at all, and it’s not ideal for international teams either.
“We all have to live with this situation right now.”
The Spurs Son striker has been quarantined in Austria
News regarding Doherty increased the Spurs manager’s apparent frustrations after his striker Son Heung-min was quarantined at an Austrian hotel when six of his South Korean teammates tested positive for the virus.
The Republic boss lost eight players in total during last month’s international triple header, including strikers Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah to heartbreaking Euro 2020 play-off semi-final defeat to Slovakia before it was later known. that the Covid case were connected had turned out to be a false positive.
West Brom striker Callum Robinson was barred from last Thursday’s 3-0 friendly defeat to England after testing positive for the virus and the same fate befell Alan Browne after his Wembley match, where he played.
Additionally, Republic goalkeepers coach Alan Kelly, who is an asthmatic, has decided not to return to Dublin with the rest of the party from Cardiff following positive tests.
Kenny, who chose to play for England rather than travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina in an effort to minimize the risk to his players, insisted he was not worried about the security measures that have been put in place. , although they appear to have failed to prevent the virus being brought into the camp.
“Last month we weren’t hit with many infections, we were hit with close contacts because we adhered to much stricter policies, perhaps, than anyone else because we had the two-meter rule and were following HSE. [Health Service Executive] guidelines.
“We didn’t have any more than anyone else, I’d say, but we had excluded eight, two with it and six with close contacts in the last field. Obviously with this field, we excluded four.
“It’s difficult to manage. Many protocols have been followed to high standards, but sometimes the virus doesn’t discriminate.”
Republic without 13 of the original squad
Amid coronavirus withdrawals, injuries and suspensions, Kenny is out of 13 of the squad that met last week but the opposition has been hit hard with Bulgaria missing nine players for Covid-19 reasons.
On Monday, Kenny enlisted teenager Troy Parrott, who is on loan at Millwall, Peterborough midfielder Jack Taylor and Shamrock Rovers duo Graham Burke and Aaron McEneff for Tottenham.
The Republic have yet to win in seven games with Kenny and have not scored in their last six, but the manager continues to insist that there are reasons to be optimistic for the future.
“We came for a bit of criticism, and that’s fair enough. It’s part of the territory when you don’t win games, I accept that.
“But we are building a squad of players who will be available for qualifying for the World Cup in March.”
Despite the difficulties, the Republic will avoid remaining in League B of the Nations League if they avoid defeat in Dublin to a Bulgarian side whose opening draw against the Irish in Sofia is the only point so far in the competition.
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