O’Neill aiming to emulate Sir Alex

Scotland are currently fourth in Group I and cannot finish in the top two, but they can still qualify via March’s play-offs thanks to their Nations League performances.

MICHAEL O’NEILL insists he can do a Fergie by combining managing Northern Ireland and Stoke.

O’Neill, below, will juggle leading Northern Ireland for the remainder of their Euro

2020 campaign with overseeing Stoke’s survival fight in the Championship.

Sir Alex Ferguson guided Scotland to the 1986World Cup finals after the death of Jock Stein while still in charge of Aberdeen. O’Neill insists his new role at Stoke is not a distraction for Northern Ireland’s qualifiers against Holland tonight and Germany on Tuesday. “I genuinely don’t think it’s an issue,” he said.Yet he refused to say when pressed that he would still be in charge should the Irish reach the finals. “I think I answered your question,” he said.

Northern Ireland face a tough ask and likely must beat Holland at home and Germany away by a total of four goals or more. But they could still feature in the play-offs.

The 7-0 win over Montenegro at Wembley took the Three Lions to 33 goals in the qualifying campaign – three more than any other side.

The absence of Raheem Sterling, who will be reinstated for tomorrow’s final group game in Kosovo, did nothing to dam the flow on Thursday night.

England are averaging almost five goals a game, a strike rate lent extra credibility by the lack of a deadbeat opponent like San Marino in their group.

The potency is most atypical historically and all the more exciting as Gareth Southgate’s side set their sights on what will effectively be a home event next summer.

England will play all three Euro 2020 group games at Wembley, while the semi-finals and final of the tournament – to be shared across 12 host cities – will also be held in London.

“It’s going to be an incredible experience for the players, for our fans,” said Southgate. “We want to make Wembley