Disappointed Sammy Clingan has put his six-week lay-off into perspective. The Coventry City midfielder misses Northern Ireland’s final World Cup mission in the Czech Republic this week with a broken toe and says: “I’m gutted but it’s not the end of the world.

“There is no point in moping about and getting down about it because there are a lot of people worse off than me in the world.

“When you think of soldiers in Afghanistan and what they are suffering it makes you see things differently.

“I’m only going to be out for six to eight weeks so I have just got to be positive, get myself in the gym and try to come back as fit as possible.

“I believe you have to be positive about things. That’s the way I look at life because I have had a lot of tragedies in the last couple of years in my family with two close cousins dying, people who were basically like brothers to me so this is nothing compared to all that.

“One of my cousins was the same age as me and I grew up with him. The other was five years younger and died of a massive heart attack.

“My uncle on my mum’s side died as well so it has been hard but thankfully I have got a strong family and football to fall back on.”

The 25-year-old was due to win his 25th cap in Prague in a game where Nigel Worthington's injury-depleted outfit desperately require victory to have any chance of making the play-offs to reach next summer’s finals in South Africa.

But an X-ray following a late challenge by Leicester’s DJ Campbell in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Ricoh Arena has shown damage to his third toe, leaving the player “devastated” at being sidelined for the next month and a half.

“We’re very disappointed because he’s been scoring some great goals for us,” says manager Chris Coleman of the Belfast man who has scored three times in his last four games — two from spectacular free kicks — and made the Championship’s official team of the week following his display at the weekend.

“He loves his football and is gutted that he’s going to miss his match with Northern Ireland but also four or five games for his club.

“We are going to miss him because he is one of those players who has a good presence and aura on the field, even when he is not playing his best football.”

As for the challenge that caused the injury, Coleman adds: “I thought it was late but he is not a dirty player. Strikers are not good tacklers and he just got it wrong and didn’t go in to hurt Sammy.”

Clingan says: “I know my form hasn’t been the best but to be getting goals is a nice bonus because I don’t usually score that many.

He is not bitter about the injury which has robbed him of his chance to play in Prague.

“I have looked at the video of the game. The player put his foot up and I just caught the bottom of his boot as I went to strike the ball.

“When it happened I thought it would be all right and I walked off the pitch to give myself a bit of time because I didn’t want to come off.

“But I had a little jog up the side and I knew I couldn’t do it.

“It turned out that I have a slight fracture of my third metatarsal.

“It’s disappointing but it certainly isn’t the end of the world.”