Steve McClaren adamant Rob Elliot should not be involved in Ireland's play-off with Bosnia

Elliot was Newcastle’s match-winner as they beat Bournemouth on Saturday to claim their first away win since January and haul themselves out of the Premier League relegation zone.

However, the 29-year-old is still being troubled by the ongoing thigh problem that almost forced him to miss the game against the Cherries, and with Newcastle’s other senior goalkeepers still injured, Steve McClaren is extremely concerned at the prospect of Elliot having to play in two international games in the space of four days.

Ireland travel to Sarajevo to face Bosnia in the opening leg of their play-off on Friday, before hosting the return fixture in Dublin next Monday, and Elliot was last night selected as part of O’Neill’s 30-man squad for the tie.

O’Neill has accepted that Newcastle’s medical staff will have to be involved in assessing Elliot’s availability for the two games, but with Shay Given definitely ruled out because of injury, the former Sunderland boss is extremely keen to have Elliot as part of his group.

The in-form Newcastle shot-stopper is one of four goalkeepers selected in the squad – David Forde, Keiren Westwood and Darren Randolph have also been named – and if he is available, O’Neill is expected to name him in either the starting line-up or on the bench for Friday’s first leg.

That prospect is an alarming one for McClaren as he attempts to guarantee his current first-choice’s availability for Newcastle’s next game against Leicester City on November 21.

Elliot, who made a string of fine saves to deny Bournemouth, is understood to be keen to report for international duty, but McClaren underlined the extent of his opposition to the goalkeeper’s call-up in the wake of this weekend’s game.

When asked whether Elliot would be going away with Ireland, McClaren said: “I hope not, and I don’t think so. He’s the man in goal at the moment, and we want to wrap him in cotton wool and try to get him out for the next game.”

Elliot’s importance to Saturday’s victory cannot be overstated, as he made a succession of superb saves to deny Bournemouth and ensure Newcastle claimed a much-needed victory despite being outplayed for almost all of the game.

He denied Josh King on three separate occasions in the first half, and also made excellent saves to frustrate Dan Gosling and Matt Ritchie as the Magpies mounted a successful rearguard action.

“People talk about goalkeepers getting you points, and a top goalkeeper can get you 15-20 points for performances like that,” said McClaren, who is hoping to have Karl Darlow available by the end of the international break.

“Missing Tim Krul, we talked about that – he’s (Elliot) got to step in and do it. Last week (against Stoke), he made a great save and got us a point in one respect. Here, he got us all three points, without a shadow of a doubt. That’s what you want from your goalie.

“He was so positive from Monday because we were wondering what to do. He was so positive to play that we gave him every chance, every opportunity, and on Friday he trained well. I thought he was excellent.”

While Newcastle can take little from the quality of their performance at the Vitality Stadium, which was as poor as anything they have produced all season, they can at least be satisfied with the spirit and commitment that enabled them to leapfrog Bournemouth and pull two points clear of the drop zone.

“It’s important to have moved up the table, and we said that in the dressing room,” said McClaren. “I said at half-time we need character, fight and grit to win and keep a clean sheet.

“That’s what we had. We had a certain fragility about us early on in the season, with the West Ham game especially, but we stuck in there this time and we’ve got to take belief from that.

“We’re making progress, but the turnaround is big. The first eight games were so, so difficult and you could see the hangover that the team was experiencing. Slowly, like a big ship, we’re trying to turn that around. Results like this will help.”