John O’Shea didn’t sugercoat it when he was asked about Gareth Bale’s rash tackle

Ireland's 0-0 draw with Wales on Friday will be remembered for little else besides Neil Taylor's calamitous tackle on Seamus Coleman.

The Ireland captain suffered a leg break in two places and now faces a long road to recovery, with some bleakly predicting that he'll be out of action until 2018. Just seconds before Neil Taylor clattered into Coleman, Gareth Bale had been booked for a reckless challenge on John O'Shea. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/845955749620649984 O'Shea has now spoken out about Bale's tackle, and said that he was lucky to avoid the same fate as Coleman.

Asked about Bale's tackle, O'Shea was relatively magnanimous. "Thankfully I’m walking away from it, which is no problem," he told The Irish Times

"I’ve had plenty of stitches put in there. I was lucky considering what has happened to Seamus. On another night there could have been two red cards.

"I can’t remember how many stitches it was. The doctor had to stick some in deep and a few dissolvable ones on top. Hopefully it will heal quickly."

The Sunderland centre-half is set to miss Tuesday's friendly with Iceland as a result of the tackle.