O'Neill: It would have been wrong to cap Rice & Grealish

Martin O'Neill has said it would have been "wrong" for him to play Declan Rice and Jack Grealish in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland because both wanted to represent England.

O'Neill was manager of the Boys in Green when the two young talents were making names for themselves at West Ham and Aston Villa. Both players shone for underage Ireland teams, with Rice playing three senior international friendlies.

If either had been capped just once in a competitive international match, they would have been locked into playing for Ireland. FIFA has since made changes to international eligibility, allowing players who have played less than four competitive games to switch country.

They are both currently part of an England squad that's preparing to take on France in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday night.

Speaking about the matter to English radio station Talksport, O'Neill said. "First of all, you can't coerce players into becoming international players. [Rice] played in three friendly games at senior level, he was terrific in the games. It’s as simple as this: Declan Rice wanted to play for England.

"He’s born in England, it really is as simple as that, you cannot just bring them into an international game, a competitive game, where the minute they play a competitive match for the country that’s them announcing they’re going to be playing for them.

"That was never going to be the case, you can’t deceive people into playing these games. You cannot force them into that.

"Jack Grealish was exactly the same, he was in my early stages of international management. I went to see Jack Grealish, I went to see his dad. Jack Grealish was born in England, and Jack Grealish did play some underage football for the Republic of