Latest news with #DionCharles
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
O'Neill still hunting for NI's starting striker
International Friendly: Northern Ireland v IcelandVenue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Tuesday, 10 June Kick-off: 19:45 BSTCoverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two NI, listen on BBC Sounds and follow live text commentary & in-play clips on the BBC Sport website Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says he is waiting for one of the strikers in his squad to nail down the starting role, but added his team is "pretty settled" ahead of the World Cup Town striker Dion Charles started in the 2-1 defeat by Denmark in Copenhagen on Saturday, with fellow forwards Callum Marshall and Paul Smyth coming off the strikers such as Lee Bonis, Dale Taylor and the uncapped Ronan Hale were all unused substitutes and O'Neill believes it is one of the problem areas in his squad before Tuesday's friendly against Iceland."We're still looking for maybe that striker to put their hand up and say, 'I'm the player that should be starting,'" he told BBC Sport NI."The lads we have those in positions are all playing at a similar level, sort of League One level in England and SPL level in Scotland. "They've all scored goals this season, a lot of them have got to double figures but the jump up to play against top international defenders is a big jump so that's probably one of the positions we maybe need to nail down, but I think across the team in other areas we're pretty settled." NI must 'develop the team we have' against Iceland O'Neill confirmed that goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, who is on loan at Waterford from Fleetwood Town, has been called up to replace the injured Conor Hazard ahead of the Iceland game. The NI boss said that he knows his "strongest team" but must strike a balance in team selection on Tuesday as he also wants to cast his eye over some fringe players in the friendly is NI's last game before September's away double-header against Luxembourg and Germany in 2026 World Cup qualifying. "Rarely do you get your strongest team on the pitch so it's important to utilise the squad," O'Neill continued."We still have players that need to make that step up, they've been good when they've come in, but they haven't had the exposure minutes wise we could have given them, but we also have to develop the team we have."The team we pick [against Iceland] will be picked to try and win the game and to look forward to the games when they start in September."Iceland beat Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park on Friday and O'Neill hopes the fixture will allow NI to address their shortcomings in attack that were evident against Denmark."They have got a new coach [Arnar Gunnlaugsson] and he's only been in for three games and that Scotland game was a great result for him and they have some very good players who play at a good level across Europe so I think in terms of possession it will be a more evenly matched game," O'Neill said."We know we need to improve when we have the ball, so this is an opportunity for us to do that."
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Northern Ireland 2-0 Denmark, November 2023
Ahead of Saturday's meeting between Northern Ireland and Denmark on Saturday, let's take you back to the last time these two sides O'Neill's side ended a poor Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on a high with a 2-0 win over the Danes at Windsor goals from Isaac Price and Dion Charles sealed the victory against the visitor who had already secured their place in the a result, they rested a few big names for the Windsor Park encounter, with Manchester United pair Rasmus Højlund and Christian Eriksen already missing out through didn't make the much-needed victory any less sweet for the Northern Ireland players and supporters, however, with the Green and White Army bursting into life for the majority of the second half of a game in which there was little more than pride at you want to, take a trip down memory lane and read our match report from that night.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Terriers striker Charles 'naive' to attend Bolton game
Injured Huddersfield Town striker Dion Charles has apologised to interim manager Jon Worthington for attending Bolton's game at Blackpool on Saturday in the away 29-year-old Northern Ireland international joined the Terriers from Wanderers in January and has yet to score for his new side in 11 were beaten 4-0 away at Charlton on Saturday, while Bolton, who are one point and one place below seventh-placed Town in League One, lost 2-1 at Bloomfield Road later that afternoon."Dion came to see me first thing on Sunday morning to apologise," Worthington told BBC Radio Leeds."I think ultimately he has probably been a bit naive with the context of it being another team in our league."He is injured and he isn't available for us and he was there with his three-year-old son... ultimately we draw a line under it and move on as quickly as possible."Charles is out with a hamstring injury picked up in the 1-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers on 8 March, with Worthington saying he is hopeful the forward is "getting close" to being available again. Town in for 'rollercoaster' end to the season Worthington was appointed interim boss until the end of the season after Michael Duff was sacked by Town earlier in led the team to a 5-1 win over Crawley in his first game before Saturday's heavy loss at fourth-placed Charlton, who opened the scoring in the first eight games to play, Huddersfield are one point behind sixth-placed travel to mid-table Lincoln City on Tuesday night and Worthington believes there will be more ups and downs in the coming weeks as they look to claim a play-off spot."We came in Sunday and digested the game and get closure on it," he said."Everything that I saw in the game and when I watched it back was just the same. The disappointment was us getting out-fought in moments and our reaction to the first goal."I said all along it wouldn't be plain-sailing and there were going to be challenges and a bit of a rollercoaster, but we deal with it and move on."The players are an honest bunch and it's about reacting and putting it right."
