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Beleaguered Everton boss Ronald Koeman is on another collision course with Martin O'Neill after he refused to rule out James McCarthy for Republic of Ireland duty.

McCarthy hasn't played a single minute for Everton this season due to a niggling knee problem.

Koeman and O'Neill have clashed on multiple occasions in the past with the Everton manager warning McCarthy to put club before country.

He was named in the provisional squad by O'Neill and kept in the trimmed-down version with the Ireland boss refusing to rule the midfielder out.

Ireland face a crunch double-header against Moldova and Wales as they bid to reach the World Cup.

(Image: Getty Images Europe) (Image: REUTERS)

"He doesn't want to be ruled out at the moment," O'Neill said.

"We'll have to really look at that very, very carefully and see how he is. He has trained now for quite a number of days and he has joined in with the first team at Everton as well, so we'll see how he is and take it on a day-to-day basis.

"Personally speaking, I would have thought that given the amount of time that James has been out - and he picked up the injury at club level - I would have thought that Everton would be quite pleased that he is out of the environment for a little while, training with the international boys and seeing how things go.

(Image: Getty)

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Speaking last week, Koeman said: "What I expect from every Everton player is don’t take risks when it’s not necessary.

"What I expect from the player is always a good communication between them and our medical staff.”

Koeman is under pressure at Goodison after Everton's dismal start to the season continued with a 1-0 defeat to Burnley.