Injured players a ‘big loss’ for NI – O’Neill

For this month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill will miss out on Shea Charles and Ali McCann.

McCann fractured his arm while playing for Preston North End last month, while Charles misses out on a hamstring injury.

With a shoulder issue that has kept him out of Northern Ireland’s past four games, Charles’ younger brother, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles, is also absent.

In a squad that includes uncapped Barnsley midfielder Patrick Kelly who has been promoted from the under-21s, Oxford United defender Brodie Spencer is another absentee.

“All three players will be a big loss to us, and they’ll obviously add that to what Pierce already had,” O’Neill, a player who started against Germany last time out, said.

The squad has been put to the test, according to the statement, and they have shown great character. They will have to do it again.

With just two games left, Northern Ireland is third in Group A, three points clear of second-place Slovakia and third-place Germany.

On November 14, they travel to Slovakia in Kosice, and three days later, they wrap up their campaign there.

Conor Bradley (Liverpool), Ciaron Brown (Oxford United), Ruairi McConville (Bolton Wanderers), Trai Hume (Sunderland), Trai Johnson (AFC Wimbledon), Trai Ballard (Sunderland), Paddy McNair (San Diego), Eoin Toal (Bolton Wanderers), Ruairi McConville (Norwich City), Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), and Ryan Johnson (AFC Wimbledon) are the

The midfielders are: George Saville (Luton Town), Isaac Price (West Bromwich Albion), Paul Smyth (Queens Park Rangers), Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City), Justin Devenny (Crystal Palace), Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock), Jamie Donley (Stoke City, loaned from Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie McDonnell (Mansfield Town, loaned from Nottingham Forest), and Patrick Kelly

Kelly, a former West Ham player who moved to Oakwell in the summer, has played 12 games for the under-21s and is the only addition to O’Neill’s panel despite the injuries.

He chose to make a brave move. He felt like he could have gone on a loan in the summer, and he felt it would be better for him to do so permanently, O’Neill said.

Shea Charles and Ali McCann have become O’Neill’s pivot, serving as the pivotal force behind the controversy surrounding Conor Bradley and Isaac Price.

In the absence of his brother’s distribution from between the posts, Charles is a driving force from midfield and perhaps the best passer of the ball in the side, something that is even more crucial.

Moving Paddy McNair or Justin Devenny, who are regular starters at left wing-back and center-back, into central midfield is a possibility, but that would leave similar gaps open elsewhere.

Spencer would have been the most obvious choice to replace Devenny down the left flank if not for his own injury.

Without their entire starting midfield trio from their previous four qualifiers, who will replace Galbraith with Northern Ireland in the Slovakia game at least?

The injuries will put the depth of Northern Ireland’s players to the test, and perhaps O’Neill’s ability to come up with alternative solutions given the small number of players available.

He said, “We would probably need to be a little bit creative in the midfield area or we might be a little bit inexperienced in that area.”

In this game, there is a balance between having fun and maybe asking players to do something a little different, but not something they can’t do.