Jon Walters is expected to return to training with the rest of the Ireland squad on Friday after missing the open session at the Aviva on Wednesday morning due to an underlying knee condition.
The 33 year-old spent the morning in the gym while the rest of the players trained in front a crowd of Irish supporters at the stadium but the decision that he skip the session was said to be “routine” and there appears to be no apparent threat at this stage to his availability for the game.
Stephen Ward trained with his knee heavily strapped, and the Burnley left back appeared to require some attention at the end of the session, but the Dubliner is expected to be fit and available for selection too.
Afterwards, Leeds United midfielder Eunan O’Kane played down the idea that Ireland might benefit from the problems the Austrians are enduring this week, insisting that they might be more anxious than ever to make a point on Sunday.
“I think that sometimes when there’s unrest in the camp, it can be a relief to get on the pitch so I don’t think that anything that you hear can affect how you prepare for the game or what you expect from them,” he said.
“If it is true then they’ll only be looking forward to the game and getting on the pitch. It is what it is in terms of what you hear but I don’t think we can expect anything different in terms of what we saw from their team when we last played them.”
O’Kane and the rest of the squad will have Thursday off before returning on Friday to start the final phase of their preparations for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Austria.
The visitors are without Marko Arnautovic and Stefan Ilsanker (both suspended) as well as a couple of goalkeepers and Leipzig midfielder Marcel Sabitzer who is set to miss the game through injury. While manager Marcel Koller’s attempts to fill a gap at left back has been hampered by the unavailability Andreas Ulmer, who is getting married.
To add to Koller's problems, striker Marc Janko was ruled out of the game on Wednesday with tonsillitis, and uncapped Deni Alar of Sturm Graz has been called into the squad.
A win for Ireland would put Martin O’Neill’s team seven points clear of their opponents and potentially put them clear at the top of the Group D table, depending on what happens in Belgrade where Wales face Serbia.
