Denmark have given Christian Eriksen additional time off to get his head right after his Champions League woe.
Eriksen is still reeling after Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in Saturday’s damp squib final in Madrid.
And ahead of Friday’s Euro qualifier with Ireland, the Spurs ace won’t link up with the rest of the Danish squad until tomorrow.
Denmark boss Age Hareide said last night: “Christian needs a few days to relax and rest his head mentally.
“He was under a lot of pressure during the spring to see if Tottenham could qualify for the Champions league final.
“And because of that, I’ve assessed the situation and will let him take the pressure off his shoulders a little.
“Christian was very happy to get a few extra days off. It’s no problem giving him a couple of extra days off after a big disappointment like that.”
But Eriksen remains vital to Denmark’s plans on Friday as they look to redisciver their scoring touch against the Boys in Green.
Three of the last four meetings have ended in scoreless draws although Eriksen ran riot with a hat-trick in the Dublin leg of the World Cup playoff.
“We’ll be spending a lot of time on the training ground working on our offensive play. We have to be efficient,” added the manager
But Mick McCarthy doubts Eriksen’s finals disappointment will have a big bearing on his role on Friday.
The Ireland boss said: “I’ve been in that position as a player. You don’t play well on a Saturday and you come and play international football; it’s a whole different thing.
“I can’t see him having too much of a hangover - he’s far too much of a professional for that and far too good a player.
“We might be sensitive to criticism, but we’re not that sensitive to winning and losing games. If we were, we wouldn’t play.”
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