Everton star could face huge decision over future as Seamus Coleman makes feelings clear

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has impressed for Everton this season after moving to the club from Chelsea – but he soon could have a big decision to make

The Football Association of Ireland are weighing up approaching Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to ask him if he would be interested in joining Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad. Although born in England, the midfielder is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through family heritage.

And the ECHO understands that Dewsbury-Hall, who moved to the Blues from Chelsea during the summer transfer window, is on Hallgrimsson’s radar, and the Irish FA would be interested in sounding him out about a call-up. The Leicester City academy graduate has never been capped by England at any level.

Dewsbury-Hall isn't the only player on Hallgrimsson's radar. He revealed back in August that he has spoken to Louie Barry, the Aston Villa midfielder currently on loan at Sheffield United, about joining the Irish set-up.

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Dewsbury-Hall’s Everton team-mates, Seamus Coleman and Jake O’Brien, both started as Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Portugal on Saturday night.

Ruben Neves got Roberto Martinez’s side out of jail with an injury-time World Cup qualifying winner after Cristiano Ronaldo had seen an earlier penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.

But Blues skipper Coleman, who played 86 minutes at the Estadio Josa Alvalade in Lisbon, was left disappointed by some of the decisions made by referee Ivan Kruzliak.

“Everybody is gutted,” the Everton captain told Off The Ball. “We came here and we wanted to put a bit of pride in the shirt and what I see Ireland to be.

“Hard to beat and everyone fighting like you wouldn’t believe. I do think as a group we find it easier against the bigger nations, but that shouldn’t be the case.

“And all eyes now are on Tuesday and trying to keep it alive. A point tonight would have been nice and then go and beat Armenia.”

Asked about Kruzliak’s performance, Coleman said: “Listen, I found it difficult to speak to him all night, to be honest.

“He’s speaking with Bruno (Fernandes) so I challenged him on that and said, 'you will speak to Bruno but not me'.

“Listen, I am sure he was doing best, but frustrating for us at times trying to understand some of the decisions.”

While a deflated Hallgrimsson said after the game: “It’s just painful, really painful and a heartbreaking result.

“Sometimes we coaches try to look at performance when we lose games. I think what we planned to do, our game-plan, worked.

“Team effort, team-work were excellent. There was a lot of energy put into this match. Just being so close and ending up with nothing going back to Ireland is painful.

“That’s my reaction to the game. Maybe you want to ask about tactical things and stuff, but this is how I feel after the game. It’s painful.”

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