World Cup qualifier – Group A: Northern Ireland v Germany, Windsor Park, Monday, 7.45pm – Live on BBC Two
Manager Michael O’Neill is confident Northern Ireland can cover for the loss of Conor Bradley in Monday’s crunch World Cup qualifier at home to Germany.
Bradley was Northern Ireland’s star man in Friday’s 2-0 win over Slovakia but picked up a late yellow card which rules him out of Monday’s game at Windsor Park, a huge blow given the Liverpool man’s importance as an outlet in a match where they can expect to be defending for much of the night.
“We’ve got a lot players that can play in that position, so we’re well covered in the squad,” O’Neill said. “We picked a 27-man squad knowing there were potentially suspensions, we had four players coming in on yellows. So whoever comes in and plays will be well conditioned and know exactly what their job is.”
Asked if the loss of Bradley’s skill set would necessitate a change in approach, O’Neill added: “The opponent will mean we have to probably change slightly, but we’re the home team, we have everything to gain against a team like Germany.
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“We will do our best to get the performance level at the same level as we had on Friday night, if not better. There’s areas still from Friday night where we believe we can still improve and we’ll aim to do that in the game tomorrow night.”
Northern Ireland were excellent in Friday’s win and arguably should have won by more as they played on the front foot throughout.
The result kept them firmly in the hunt in Group A, level on points with Germany and Slovakia at the midway stage, making the visit of the four-time world champions to Windsor Park a potentially huge occasion.
For what is still a young team, keeping the right mentality will be key.
“As a young team you probably have to manage that a little bit,” said Trai Hume, a candidate to captain the side in the absence of Bradley, who had the armband on Friday.
“I think based off the past and the big games that we’ve played in, we haven’t let the occasion get the better of us. We’ve just gone out and done our job and do what we’re asked and I don’t see that being any different.”
Germany will travel to Belfast as clear favourites given the calibre of players in Julian Nagelsmann’s squad, but Northern Ireland are now unbeaten in seven at Windsor Park.
Monday’s game will be O’Neill’s 100th in charge across his two spells, a landmark occasion the 56-year-old has done his best to play down.
Since returning to the job in late 2022, O’Neill has overseen an almost total rebuild of the squad, with Paddy McNair and Josh Magennis the only survivors from Euro 2016, and 14 of the 27 players in this squad under the age of 25.
“The most important thing is that there’s still so much room for growth in this group of players,” O’Neill said.
“Tomorrow night is such a great test for them and it’s a game they should really look forward to and cherish to be involved in and have a real positive attitude in terms of how we approach the game.”
