Martin O’Neill has admitted he could take Ireland skipper Robbie Keane to the Euro 2016 finals even if he does not make it into the squad.

The 35-year-old LA Galaxy striker has returned to his club after failing to shake off a niggling knee injury and will play no part in tonight’s friendly against Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium.

The 64-year-old said: “I haven’t thought about that, I must admit, but I think Robbie would be thinking he would want to try to make the 23 first and foremost, and then we will see how things develop after that.

“But he has been very influential in the group, he’s been very supportive the whole time he has been here and even when he hasn’t started in matches, he’s still with the team, so, yes, that is a thought, I must admit.”

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.