Michael O’Neil has named a 25-man squad to face San Marino and Czech Republic in the latest round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Northern Ireland will be without Jamie Ward, Gareth McAuley, Liam Boyce and Paddy McNair through injury as O’Neill looks to secure second place in Group C.
O’Neill said: “We’re not in a position where we can take San Marino lightly. We have to win the game, simple as that. We’ll pick a team that we think can win the game and then we’ll think about the second game after we’ve hopefully won the first game.
“The focus will always be on the first game to make sure we win that game, and then you’re in the right frame of mind, confidence of the players is high, and then a quick turnaround and as I said the Czech Republic game… the prize at the end of it could be massive for us, but it’s only massive for us if we make sure we win the first game.”
Northern Ireland face San Marino away on Friday 1 September before a clash with third-placed Czech Republic in Belfast on Monday 4 September.
Full Squad:
Goalkeepers
Roy Carroll
Michael McGovern
Alan Mannus
Defenders
Aaron Hughes
Jonny Evans
Chris Brunt
Craig Cathcart
Conor McLaughlin
Lee Hodson
Daniel Lafferty
Adam Thompson
Ryan McLaughlin
Tom Flanagan
Midfielders
Steven Davis
Niall McGinn
Ollie Norwood
Corry Evans
Shane Ferguson
Stuart Dallas
Paul Paton
Matthew Lund
Forwards
Kyle Lafferty
Josh Magennis
Conor Washington
Shay McCartan
