Craig Cathcart was a late withdrawal ahead of Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Denmark in Copenhagen, taking the number of senior players missing through injury into double figures. Defeat leaves Northern Ireland with one win from their opening three qualifiers, albeit still only three points off top spot with Denmark, Finland, Slovenia and Kazakhstan all on six points. When O’Neill, the man who guided Northern Ireland to Euro 2016, returned to the job in December, there was real hope that they could capitalise on what was seen as a favourable draw in Group H.But asked if Friday’s defeat put pressure on Northern Ireland to beat Kazakhstan at Windsor Park on Monday, O’Neill said: “We had six under-21s on the pitch. We have 10 senior players out injured. We’re building a team here that’s dealing with a difficult situation with the number of senior players we’ve lost.

Source: The Herald June 17, 2023 20:55 UTC