Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
It’s a case of wedded miss for ace Conor
NORTHERN Ireland have been hit with a major blow ahead of next month’s vital World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan with news that striker Conor Washington is unavailable. The Queen’s Park Rangers forward, who scored in Northern Ireland’s previous qualifying game against Norway, is getting married around the same time so won’t make the trip to Baku. It is understood that Washington’s own special match of the day was organised before he made the international squad 14 months ago, so boss Michael O’neill, although disappointed to lose such a key player, has accepted the situation. Since making his Northern Ireland debut in March last year, Washington has become a firm favourite with the Green and White Army and was set to start the June 10 clash. The absence of the striker – who netted eight times for his club this season and has three goals from 10 caps – has left O’neill with a big decision to make. Will he opt for in form Ross County striker Liam Boyce to lead the line or does he revert to Charlton’s Josh Magennis or Kyle Lafferty, who is leaving Norwich in the summer? Wigan’s Will Grigg is out with a knee injury and Blackburn midfielder Corry Evans is absent with a groin issue. With their campaigns ongoing, none of the NI players in the top flights in England and Scotland or Washington were yesterday named in an 18-man panel for a week long training camp in Manchester. The squad will meet up on May 22 with the likes of Steven Davis, Gareth Mcauley and Jonny Evans joining up on May 29. Doncaster Rovers defender Luke Mccullough has been included in the panel, marking a return to the international set-up for the first time since the Euro 2016 finals. Mccullough spent most of the 2016/17 season out with a cruciate ligament injury. There is also a first senior call-up for Celtic’s highly-rated Under-19 goalkeeper Conor Hazard.