Having also lost their World Cup play-off to Italy last week, Northern Ireland faced a similar fate to their neighbours by being forced to play a pointless friendly on Tuesday evening.

Michael O’Neill’s side would make the short trip to take on Wales in Cardiff, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. There were some lively scenes before kick-off, with God Save The King being booed by the Welsh supporters.

While this has been a disappointing window for Northern Ireland, there have also been questions raised over their manager’s selection policy.

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Michael O’Neill Dismisses Northern Ireland Squad Worries

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Michael O’Neill is currently double-jobbing, having been appointed as the Blackburn Rovers manager six weeks ago to go along with his role as Northern Ireland boss. That has led to some questions about a potential conflict of interest from some Championship clubs.

It was reported by the BBC this week that at least one Championship club had raised concerns about the use of their players in the Northern Ireland squad as they prepare for a relegation scrap with Blackburn. Oxford United, who had four players in the Northern Irish squad, were said to be concerned about their players being used in the meaningless friendly against Wales.

Their player Jamie Donley would start and score his side’s only goal of the game. Ciaron Brown also started, while Brodie Spencer came on and Jamie McDonnell did not feature. Oxford United currently sit 23rd in the Championship table, four points behind Blackburn in 19th.

Portsmouth and West Brom, both of whom are involved in the relegation scrap, each had one player in the squad.

When asked about the issue in his post-match press conference, Michael O’Neill said he was ‘disappointed’ by the concerns of the clubs.

If I’m honest, I’m a little bit disappointed. These clubs ask for references on players. They ask for character references, level of performance, from us and our staff when they want to sign these players.

They were international players when they signed them. Now suddenly it becomes a bit of an issue that they’re international players.

If you look at the players in question, you know Isaac played 45 minutes tonight, Ciaron played 60, Jamie played 60 and young Jamie McDonnell didn’t play at all. Terry played a little bit more but he didn’t finish both games.

I’ll always try to protect the players. I don’t want the players coming here and it affecting their club situation.

So I was a little bit disappointed with that because I didn’t get a phone call from any of the managers. I didn’t get a phone call from anyone from their respective clubs.

So they felt that, and whatever they decided to do or what avenue they took to raise their concerns, it’s disappointing given that I’ve managed over 100 international games and I’ve always put the players first.

Michael O’Neill was only appointed as Blackburn Rovers manager on a deal until the end of the season.

His deal with Northern Ireland contract runs until after the Euro 2028 campaign, meaning he is unlikely to fill both roles beyond the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

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