James McCarthy needs a "fresh start" to play his way into Mick McCarthy's Ireland plans, says Seamus Coleman.
The Ireland skipper has been more encouraged from what he's seen from his Everton club colleague, who was out of the game for over a year with a double leg fracture suffered in January 2018.
Coleman texted the 28-year-old midfielder on Monday night to encourage him to get himself fixed up and available for the second half of Ireland's Euro 2020 qualification push.
Coleman revealed: "I texted him and said, ‘Look, you’ve got a big part to play in this Ireland team so get yourself right and get ready to go’, and I’m sure he'll do that."
McCarthy's Toffees stint is expected to end in the coming weeks as he is surplus to requirements at Goodison Park, making just one appearance off the bench last season - in April against Manchester United.
“He’ll probably be trying to get out, there’s no secret of that," acknowledged Coleman. "He needs a fresh start.
"What I’ve seen in James, when he came back, if you asked me after four or five weeks how he’s looking, I’d have said ‘Ah, he’s doing alright’, but the last three months he’s been the James McCarthy of old.
"He was firing into tackles in training, he was getting about the pitch, he was doing his sharp, crisp passing like he’s always done. It was great for me to see that.
"After what I’ve been through (with injury), I could just see something change (in McCarthy). "In just one training session, I saw something change and I was like, ‘He’s fine, he’s ready to go’, and he’s just not been getting in.
"That’s been his problem".
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