Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill concerned by Paddy McNair’s lack of action
Michael O’Neill has admitted his concern over Paddy McNair’s lack of game time at West Brom ahead of Northern Ireland’s Nations League fixtures against Belarus and Bulgaria.
McNair’s importance to Northern Ireland has only increased over the past 12 months with the loss of experienced heads including Steven Davis, Jonny Evans, and Stuart Dallas, with the 29-year-old one of only two remaining players, alongside Josh Magennis, who went to Euro 2016.
McNair, who scored in Northern Ireland’s 2-0 win over Luxembourg last month, signed for Major League Soccer expansion club San Diego in the summer and joined West Brom on loan until the new year, but things have not worked out as planned so far at The Hawthorns.
The defender’s only appearance to date came in the Carabao Cup loss to Fleetwood in August, and he has not even made Carlos Corberan’s matchday squad for the last four Championship games.
That has given O’Neill a potential headache going into Nations League fixtures away to Belarus – a match that will be played behind closed doors in Hungary – and at home to Bulgaria on October 12th and 15th respectively.
“It is a concern,” O’Neill told the PA news agency. “Obviously I’ve seen that from the last international game he’s not been involved in the matchday squads, so we have to assess that, how he feels and how he looks in training.
“Certainly you want players playing games or getting the opportunity to come off the bench, so him not getting that is far from ideal.”
O’Neill’s 25-man squad shows only two changes from last month, with Jamie Reid back from a leg injury to replace the sidelined Shayne Lavery, while 19-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles steps in for the injured Conor Hazard.
