Ronald Koeman unhappy with Republic of Ireland's use of Southampton's Shane Long
Friday 20 November 2015 09:31, UK
Ronald Koeman says Republic of Ireland European Qualifying play-off were warned against playing Shane Long in their play-off win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The striker has not featured for Southampton since September and suffered an ankle injury during Ireland's defeat to Poland on October 11.
But despite training just once since then Long was used as a second-half substitute as the Irish won the second leg of their play-off 2-0 to book a place at Euro 2016.
Koeman said: "I was very surprised he played 40 minutes. The player didn't train for five or six weeks, had only one training session on the Sunday.
"The doctor, Steve Barnes, had contact with the Irish medical staff and my information was that he wasn't 100 per cent fit. In my opinion a player needs more training before playing 40 minutes.
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"I understand it was an important game which meant his country qualified for Euro 2016, but if I'm a national coach I don't put a player, after five or six weeks with injury and one training session, into an important game."
Long is available for Saturday's game against Stoke, but Koeman says Jay Rodriguez may need surgery to fix his ongoing foot injury.
