Northern Ireland return to action on Friday night when Switzerland visit Windsor Park for a friendly.
After winning their Nations League group late last year, attention is now on preparing for the World Cup qualifying campaign that begins in September.
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of Friday’s game.
Familiar foes present a tough test
Northern Ireland have not enjoyed recent meetings with the Swiss. There are still painful memories from 2017’s controversial World Cup qualifying play-off defeat, settled by a disputed penalty, while Jamal Lewis’s bizarre red card cost Ian Baraclough’s side in World Cup qualifying four years later. As attention turns to a bid to end what is now a 40-year wait to play at a World Cup, Michael O’Neill is challenging his young players against a top-seeded side to give them a taste of what is to come later in the year.
Donley among the new faces
O’Neill’s original squad selection included the uncapped pair Ronan Hale and Terry Devlin, and since then Kofi Balmer and Jamie Donley have been added. Hale’s switch from the Republic of Ireland has long been trailed while Balmer and Devlin have come via the under-21s, making Donley the most intriguing new addition. The Tottenham youngster, on loan at Leyton Orient, has represented both England and Northern Ireland at youth levels but has been persuaded by O’Neill to go with the country of his birth. Northern Ireland are still crying out for a regular goalscorer – Dion Charles’s injury means only three players in O’Neill’s squad have an international goal to their name – so can Donley develop into a reliable option in the future?
Who will be number one?
One of the most eye-catching decisions in O’Neill’s squad was the one to leave out Birmingham goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, stuck on 48 caps since injury ruled him out in October. Teenager Pierce Charles seized his chance with three clean sheets from three before taking some criticism for one of Luxembourg’s goals in November’s 2-2 draw. But Charles is not Sheffield Wednesday’s number one, so will O’Neill give Plymouth’s Conor Hazard, 27, a chance to add to his eight caps after impressing during an FA Cup run that included wins over Brentford and Liverpool?
Lack of experience
O’Neill said he was leaving out both Peacock-Farrell and Josh Magennis to give opportunities to younger players, but their absence means Paddy McNair and George Saville are the only players in the squad with more than 40 caps. Take those two out, and the remaining 23 average single figures between them. O’Neill has grown accustomed to working with a young, inexperienced group over the last 18 months, but that is particularly true this time.
Long injury list
Adding to that lack of experience is an injury list which includes Liverpool star Conor Bradley, Daniel Ballard, Eoin Toal, Ali McCann and Dion Charles. While O’Neill would surely love to have had them around this week, it does at least mean he can look forward to having some reinforcements to come once the competitive fixtures return later in the year.
