Northern Ireland talking points ahead of Iceland friendly

North Wales Chronicle

3 hours ago

After back-to-back defeats away to Sweden and Denmark, Michael O'Neill's men will be looking forward to the home comforts of Windsor Park.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the game.
Ahead of Iceland tomorrow, the press get an update from the boss and Isaac Price 🎙️ #GAWA pic.twitter.com/7IjpEyWZQe
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 9, 2025
O'Neill said at the start of the year he was happy Northern Ireland were drawn in a four-nation World Cup qualifying group as no competitive games before September gave him more time to prepare a young squad. But that time is now largely up with this the last run out before Northern Ireland travel to Luxembourg and then Germany for their opening Group A fixtures in September. Following two difficult away trips in the last two games, O'Neill will be looking for a confidence-boosting win before the campaign begins.
O'Neill plans to freshen up his side for Tuesday's game, mindful that his players are at the end of a long season and many are at different places in terms of their fitness. Ali McCann started against Denmark despite not playing for Preston since March through injury, while Daniel Ballard has also seen limited action for Sunderland after an injury-impacted campaign. However, O'Neill pointed out that Northern Ireland do not have the depth to be making sweeping changes and still field a competitive side.
Ronan Hale is still waiting for his Northern Ireland debut after first being called into the squad in March following a long wait for his switch of allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to come through. There had been an expectation in some quarters that the Ross County forward, who scored 18 goals in County's unsuccessful fight against relegation, might have got some minutes in Copenhagen but instead he was left on the bench again. O'Neill has warned that some players will come out of this camp without playing any minutes but, as Northern Ireland remain without an undisputed first-choice striker, Hale will be desperate to show what he can do.
Pierce Charles seems likely to start again in goal after coming off the bench to replace an injured Conor Hazard at half-time in Saturday's 2-1 defeat in Copenhagen. If he does, the 19-year-old will be making his eighth appearance for Northern Ireland and fourth at Windsor Park, where he has won two and drawn one of his three previous games, keeping two clean sheets. Hazard has returned home following the injury, with 20-year-old Stephen McMullan called in as cover.
Iceland manager Arnar Gunnlaugsson will be a familiar face to followers of English football, having played for Bolton, Leicester and Stoke during his playing career. The former forward is still getting his feet under the table as Iceland boss, having only taken over in January, with this to be his fourth game in charge. But Iceland travel to Belfast riding high on the back of an impressive 3-1 win over Scotland at Hampden Park, with Gunnlaugsson's aggressive pressing style delivering encouraging early results.