Darren Randolph is no stranger to coming into matches at the Aviva Stadium in place of an injured goalkeeper – just think back to Germany in October.

This time around it was tougher for the West Ham goalkeeper however as he replaced his close friend Rob Elliot after what looks to be ruptured knee ligaments.

“I asked the doc and I think he’s ruptured his ligaments, so I think he needs surgery. I don’t know for sure yet but that’s what the doc thinks, obviously just waiting on scan results,” Randolph said at full-time following the 2-2 draw with Slovakia.

“It could happen anybody. You could do that another 90 times and it wouldn’t happen. It’s just unfortunate. He probably does the same thing every day in training and it’s fine, it just happened tonight.”

The pair have played together since they were 15 when they were team-mates at Charlton Athletic. It was a tough sight for the Bray native to see his friend go off on a stretcher but he took full advantage of his opportunity to further press for a place in the squad that goes to France.

“It can be I suppose [tough to come into a game like that]. Luckily I didn’t have that much to do but you always have to be ready to go.”

The next few months could turn out to be very fruitful for the 28-year-old as West Ham look to reach a Wembley FA Cup final before the Euros roll around.

“I wouldn’t mind a Wembley appearance but I don’t want to jinx myself, we have to get through the replay first.”