Sammie Szmodics appeared to be knocked out in worrying scenes just moments after coming on for Republic of Ireland.The 30-year-old replaced Jayson Molumby in the 115th minute in extra-time as Ireland looked to snatch a late winner in their World Cup semi-final play-off clash against Czech Republic.Szmodics appeared to be knocked out just moments after entering the pitchPAWith the scores level at 2-2, Szmodics – on loan at Derby from Ipswich – instantly hit the deck following a collision with Stepan Chaloupek.Szmodics appeared to be knocked out as medics immediately rushed to his aide.The former Blackburn man was put into the recovery position as the stadium fell into silence.He eventually left the pitch on a stretcher to a standing ovation, where he was replaced by Harvey Vale for his Ireland debut.Scary scenesSpeaking on talkSPORT commentary of the incident, Mark Wilson said: “He went down in a pretty heavy challenge.“Looks like he got a bang on the head.“There was a shot of him on the ground, looks like he might have been possibly knocked out, well he has been stretchered off now.”Ex-Sunderland defender Micky Gray remarked: “It was a coming together.“He just kind of shoulder barged him, but he had a look to see where Szmodics was before he actually made the challenge.“And he’s caught him really high up and then you could see his head was jerking a little bit.Szmodics required instant medical care following a heavy collisionGettyThe Ipswich loanee has scored twice for Derby since joining on loan earlier this yearGetty“Szmodics was down for about three or four minutes and rightly so was being stretched off.”To make matters worse for Ireland, their World Cup dreams came to an end after suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat.But it was Szmodics that was on the minds of fans on social media, as one X user posted: “Please God let Szmodics be OK.”Another messaged: “This looks really scary. Szmodics hits the deck and was KO’d. Sincerely hope he’s OK.”A third added: “Wishing Szmodics the best, that looked scary.”Meanwhile this fan simply stated: “That’s devastating man Praying for Szmodics.”