Recap
Northern Ireland coach Michael O’Neill have no luck at all. After a return as Northern Ireland manager for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, O’Neill’s plans have been hit by injury after injury to key players. He can’t count on captain Steven Davis (140 caps), Corry Evans (69 caps), Stuart Dallas (62 caps), Shane Ferguson (56 caps), Shayne Lavery (40 caps, 11 goals), Jamal Lewis (34 caps), Liam Donnelly (24 caps), Conor Bradley (13 caps), and Dale Taylor (3 caps), while Dan Ballard (18 caps) is also a doubt for Slovenia, which would be a further blow to O’Neill. The latest player to withdraw from the squad, this time with a hamstring injury is Gavin Whyte (28 caps). His absence for the away double-header brings O’Neill’s injury list for September’s qualifiers up to 10 players. Their appearances are more then negative, with 3 conservatives defeats, and only hard fought victory against San Marino (0-2) in the first round.
Slovenia is a 4th place with 7 points, but only 2 away from the top. They have a well balanced team with good players and this is a must win match for them, because they traveled to San Marino in the next round and 6 points will be more then welcomed in the race for the first two places.