DESPITE SO many recent distractions, Nigel Worthington was all smiles in Dublin yesterday.

There were jokes about putting journalists on the Northern Irish bench and trying to talk Paddy McCourt out of getting married so he could play at the Aviva Stadium against Ireland tonight.

But such humour also highlights the wider controversy surrounding this match – one of the reasons that Worthington’s squad is so thin is because the IFA continue to lose a series of Northern-born players to the FAI.

The latest are Preston’s Daniel Devine and, as Worthington all but confirmed yesterday, Newcastle’s Shane Ferguson. So, although his mood might have changed on the issue, his stance hasn’t. Worthington believes the current eligibility rules are too open-ended and would rein them in to an extraordinary degree.

“I’m a big believer that you represent the country you are born into. And I always think our younger players have got a greater opportunity of gaining international caps with ourselves because of many more youngsters the Republic or Scotland or England have got. So some of those youngsters might not play. Now Darron Gibson is part of it. Some of the others who have gone are not even close.

“Compensation has been mentioned. But, for me personally, I want our own players to represent Northern Ireland – not another country. And that means the Republic, England, Scotland, Wales or wherever. It’s across the board.”

While Worthington insisted he is not happy with the current situation, he did admit he would attempt to take advantage of those same rules for Northern Ireland wherever possible.

“If I could go and get a player from England or Scotland or Wales I would. The situation is there so I would use it. But I think the quicker the situation is in black and white the better. You are born in a country and you represent that country. End of. . . I think the window has to be shut firmly and with no gaps. You are born in a country and that is it.”

Such a narrow view of nationality would, of course, have created problems for squads on both sides of the Border throughout their histories. Neither would have been able to benefit from the scores of second-generation migrants to the UK and beyond.

“There is that scenario,” Worthington admitted. “I have no issues with that. I’d loved to have had Brazilian parents!”

As regards Ferguson, Worthington merely confirmed his calls to the hugely-promising Derry-born player had remained unanswered. “That’s his prerogative. All we can do is try.”

In the meantime, Northern Ireland will field 17-year-old Josh Carson in a game that is set to be boycotted by all but a couple of hundred Northern fans in a dispute over the IFA’s pricing and restrictive travel arrangements.

Whatever the result, Worthington feels the experience will only do his young players good.

In that sense, he can be happy that Dublin will finally give his squad something back.