Northern Ireland reconvened this week with a 24-man squad featuring players who have averaged over 1,000 minutes of club action during the 2026-27 campaign, ahead of Nations League fixtures against Ukraine on Saturday and Hungary three days later.
Manager Michael O’Neill enters the key international window benefiting from improved club situations across his roster. Almost four years after returning to the Northern Ireland job, O’Neill has seen nine players make permanent or loan switches during the summer, shifting the squad from relying on bit-part players to regulars across the top three divisions in England.
Excluding an uncapped trio, the remaining panel members have seen heavy playing time. Only Tom Atcheson, carrying a knock, along with Paddy McNair, Kieran Morrison, and Callum Marshall, have started fewer than four games since the team’s last international fixture against Georgia last month.
O’Neill aims for more players to eventually reach the top flight alongside established Premier League names such as Conor Bradley, Daniel Ballard, Trai Hume, and Shea Charles.
“There’s a lot of players who are playing on a regular basis at their clubs, which is a real positive,” said O’Neill, who is missing Ballard, Bradley, and Arsenal’s Ceadach O’Neill to injuries for this window.
“I think at this stage of their career they should be looking up. Our players that play in the Championship hopefully will have aspirations to play in the Premier League, and I think we have players that are capable of that,” O’Neill added.
Attackers Jamie Donley and Callum Marshall compete at the League One level this season with Luton Town under manager Jack Wilshere. Finding a regular goalscorer remains a priority for O’Neill, with the team having scored just once in their past four home matches—a Donley penalty against Luxembourg.
Donley, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, operates in a deeper role at club level than his false nine position for the national team. He has contributed three goals and two assists since the September-October window.
“I don’t think you can compare, with all due respect, the chances that he may get playing for Luton in League One where they’re a strong team, to playing for Northern Ireland at Nations League B,” said O’Neill.
Marshall has scored four times in League One since arriving from West Ham in the summer, though he continues fighting for regular starts. The 21-year-old has featured just once in Northern Ireland’s past five matches and is yet to score internationally.
“I encouraged him to make the move on a permanent basis because I think that you go through a loan scenario and it’s difficult,” said O’Neill.
Worth a look
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