O’Neill keeping very close eye on options for blockbuster clash

MICHAEL O’Neill must assess a number of players in his Northern Ireland squad as attention turns fully to Monday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Germany.

Thursday’s 1-0 friendly win over Luxembourg was achieved with an experimental line-up which combined a number of players in need of minutes on the pitch and youngsters from the under-21 squad getting a chance at senior level.

Ciaron Brown, Alfie McCalmont and Ethan Galbraith all made their debuts in the match, while there were second caps for Tom Flanagan, Liam Donnelly and Shayne Lavery.

While O’Neill was happy to blood some youngsters, many of the decisions were effectively enforced with the Germany game taking precedence in the manager’s thinking every step of the way.

With Callum Morris sidelined, O’Neill admitted he left defenders Jonny Evans and Craig Cathcart out of his matchday squad entirely to avoid the “temptation” of turning to either man should Brown have run out of steam, with the 21-year-old having started only one game for Cardiff this season.

Conor Washington and Liam Boyce were also left out as they nurse minor problems.

“Conor just had a wee bit of a back issue so we had to monitor him this week and wrap him up in cotton wool,” O’Neill said.

“He’ll train tomorrow. He’s in a good place to start. It was important. If you look at our striking options, Kyle (Lafferty) and Josh (Magennis) have only just sorted out their club situations, and Liam Boyce is dealing with a hamstring injury, so we weren’t prepared to risk Conor.”

Magennis started the match in the centre of a front three, with Lafferty playing on the left barely 24 hours after landing in Belfast as a late call-up to the squad.

The 31-year-old only signed for Norwegian club Sarpsborg last week, and was sent off on his debut at the weekend, the first club match he has started since playing Cowdenbeath with Rangers in January.

“He didn’t train with the squad,” O’Neill (below) said.

“Again, we had looked at what we were initially going to start with and we wouldn’t take a risk with someone at that position.

“Kyle went 60 minutes which will do him good... We’ve chopped and changed with the under-21 players coming in. “It’s not that we’ve had a set game plan for Luxembourg. We have a set game plan to play Germany.”

Though the youth movement was the main theme of the night, there was a late substitute appearance for 34-year-old Steven Davis.

The Rangers midfielder came on alongside debutant Galbraith to earn his 112th cap, equalling the outfield record of Aaron Hughes, who was honoured at half-time following his retirement in June.

“He’s been annoying me all week, him and Jonny, wanting to play,” O’Neill said with a laugh.

“Jonny will probably be mad because Davo got five minutes and he didn’t.

“But we’re in a really good place with a very young squad. They’ll be tested in the next four games, there’s no doubt about that, but what we will do is go into the Germany game and have a team as fresh as can be.”

AT the start of last year Ciaron Brown was playing in the sixth tier of English football with Wealdstone in National League South. On Thursday night the young defender made his international debut for Northern Ireland, helping keep a clean sheet with a solid display in a 1-0 friendly victory against Luxembourg at Windsor Park.

Born in London and with a Belfast mum, the Cardiff City ace had never represented Northern Ireland at any level prior to being called into Ian Baraclough’s under-21 set-up this week.

Injuries in central defence and Michael O’Neill’s desire to keep Jonny Evans and Craig Cathcart fresh for Monday’s vital Euro 2020 qualifier against Germany led to Brown being called into the senior ranks and before he knew it he was winning his first cap.

“I got told on Wednesday that I’d be involved, maybe on the bench, and then I got told on Thursday morning that I was starting and I kind of had to double check he said my name,” said Brown, a modest guy off the pitch and unmistakeable on it thanks to his ponytail.

“I was a bit nervous before the game, walking out, but as soon as that whistle goes and you make your first pass, it kind of leaves your body and you’re just playing your game.

“The manager said to just play my own game and that I knew what I had to do and to enjoy it. I really did. To get a clean sheet and a win just topped the whole night off.

“I was walking off the pitch and I still didn’t realise what I’d just done. I was sitting and thinking ‘I’ve just made my international debut, with the game on Sky TV with all my family and friends watching’.

“It’s still surreal and it probably won’t settle in until I go back to Cardiff and I’m sitting thinking about it.”

Brown joined Cardiff from Wealdstone in January 2018 having previously been with

non-league Bedfont as a teenager.

“I was in the Combined Counties (League) playing men’s football at 17 (with Bedfont) and then made a jump to