Bad news for Ireland as James McClean is latest injury concern ahead of crucial World Cup qualifiers

Please no.

James McClean could be a serious doubt to miss Ireland's World Cup qualifiers in September after coming off injured in a pre season friendly against Bristol Rovers. The West Brom player was preparing for the new season, which starts on 12 August, but came off injured at the 48th minute with a knee injury. Speaking to the club's official website, West Brom manager Tony Pulis didn't do much to ease the concerns of Irish fans when talking about injured players from the game. "James' is the most concerning at the moment because it is in the knee area and we'll get that scanned to see what that tells us," Pulis said. McClean has grown into the Republic of Ireland team over the past year and even captained his country upon his 50th appearance for Martin O'Neill's side. Ireland currently sits tied at the top with Serbia in their World Cup qualifying group but have two crucial games coming up at the start of September where McClean would be a nailed on starter. The first of the two games is away to Georgia in Tbilisi on 2 September with a crunch game against Serbia at home on 5 September.