When asked about the likes of Conor McLaughlin and Patrick McNair being included in the squad and blending youth with experience, he said “the younger players have definitely freshened up the squad, there’s no doubt about that but key experienced players that you need for this campaign (such as Roy Carroll and Aaron Hughes) have been a great service to Northern Ireland and it would be fantastic for them to get the opportunity to play in a major finals.”
Michael was also discussing the emergence of players like Stuart Dallas and Oliver Norwood and talked about the development of the squad for the future; “Going forward as a national team we are going to have to see the emergence of some players (like this), but at the minute we have a good squad of players who mix very well together and seem to enjoy each other’s company.”
Michael was also asked about the possibility of Northern Ireland being able to qualify for the EUR0 2016 finals on Monday 7th September but he said that his team must do their job first; “our focus has to be on ourselves, make sure we win the game in the Faroes and then we’ll see what the scenario is on Monday night.”
Northern Ireland play away in the Faroe Islands on Friday night and return home to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park to face Hungary on Monday.
Michael O'Neill and David Healy at the Northern Ireland training in Bangor yesterday