Is Spurs’ Donley ready to fill Northern Ireland’s ‘problem position’?

Speaking before the final international window of the year, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill described the number nine jersey as one position where he was “still searching for an option”.

Almost three years since his return to the job, and four months before a World Cup play-off semi-final, the former Stoke City boss’ selections have given the impression that, if he is set on 10 of his first-choice XI, centre-forward remains the place where he is most open to persuasion.

After adding that he “would love someone to really step up”, on Monday night against Luxembourg it was the turn of Tottenham Hotspur attacker Jamie Donley to press his claim as the third different player to lead the line in as many games.

With the winning goal from the penalty spot, and an earlier effort chalked off for an offside, the 20-year-old – currently on loan at Stoke – certainly made the most compelling case of any player to date for an extended run in the position.

Indeed, O’Neill felt Donley was the “best player on the pitch” in what was a dead-rubber qualifier for next summer’s World Cup in North America.

“I wanted to see him as a nine,” continued the manager after Northern Ireland finished their Group A campaign with nine points from six games and in third place behind Germany and Slovakia.

“Look, there’s no secret that the nine is a problem position for us. I think Jamie has different attributes maybe from some of the other strikers.

More used to playing in a deeper position, Donley may not have the physicality of a more orthodox number nine but, quite aside from putting the ball in the net on two occasions, he was a willing runner in the channels too.

“You’re the last line of attack,” Donley said of the main difference between playing up front compared to as a number 10.

“Normally I’m behind the striker. I know I’ve always got someone behind me, but it’s more about running and stretching the game.

“I think I can add that to my game definitely because I don’t think I do enough of that. Michael says that to me a lot about running in behind because the team needs that sometimes.”

Should Donley develop his skills in leading the line, there is no doubt his playmaking ability from deep would still be an asset too.

There is no better example than England and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, a player Donley previously trained with at Spurs.

“He helped me a lot when he was around,” said Donley of Tottenham’s record goalscorer who moved to Germany in August 2024.

Kane’s goalscoring feats came only after a number of frustrating loan spells away from Tottenham earlier in his career with Donley presently enduring similar struggles.

Having impressed at Leyton Orient last season, and made his international debut while with the Brisbane Road club, he has found things tougher in the Championship with Stoke this year.

Since the start of September, he has played only 37 club minutes, which in turn has hampered his international prospects.

Born in Northern Ireland but raised in England, Donley represented both at youth level and it was viewed as a real coup when O’Neill convinced him to turn out in a green jersey at senior level in March. Yet Monday represented his first start since that initial international window with the squad.

O’Neill thinks Donley has been “unlucky” not to have won more than six senior caps, but believes you can always see his Premier League quality.

“He just looks like that player that has been at a high level as a young player at a club like Tottenham all his days,” he said.

“Obviously he’s still a Tottenham player at this minute in time. He’s just got himself in a situation where his loan has not gone as well as he’d hoped.

“That’s happened to many players. Many players have gone through that situation where the loan is not always a success, but they learn from that as well. He’s only 20 years of age, so he’s got it all ahead of him.”

Such has been Donley’s struggle for regular football this season that he dropped back down to the Northern Ireland Under-21s as recently as last month.

Yet, on the most recent evidence, he is now in pole position to start what will be the country’s biggest game in at least five years come the play-off in March.

O’Neill hopes the “situation resolves itself” in the coming months, while Donley believes his international progress can aid his club prospects – in turn helping his chances of holding on to Northern Ireland’s number nine jersey.

“I think I need to be playing at my club to have any chance of playing in March because Michael speaks a lot about that,” he said.

“I think [the Luxembourg showing] would have helped me if someone from Stoke was watching and seeing that I’ve got a bit of quality. I’ll go back and see what happens.