Luxembourg v Northern Ireland: Evans joins squad for friendly international
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Jonny Evans in action against Italy's Nicolo Barella during the World Cup qualifier in Belfast in November
Jonny Evans has joined up with the Northern Ireland squad for Friday's friendly against Luxembourg.
The Leicester City defender was not named in Ian Baraclough's original 25-man group for the game he continued to recover from a hamstring injury.
However, Evans played 25 minutes of his club's 2-1 Premier League win over Brentford on Sunday.
"It's only for the Luxembourg game," said Baraclough of the availability of 93-times capped Evans.
"To have him in the squad is great. Jonny is a leader for us."
"Brendan [Rodgers, Leicester manager] had made me aware a couple of days before that he was back in training probably earlier than what they had expected and would we like to use him in the camp," added the NI boss.
"And with so many young players coming into the group as well the likes of Jonny, Josh [Magennis], Stuart Dallas, Niall McGinn and Craig Cathcart, it's good for those kind of players to be around the young players.
"So to have Jonny for the first part of the camp is great. He loves playing for the country. He's enjoying what's going on.
"When he was part of it last November, you could see it gave us something extra as well. The way he played against Italy and him just being around was great for the group.
"People are asking about these players, are they ready to wrap in playing international football, Jonny has gone through a lot in the last year injury wise but he's still desperate to play for his country.
'We'll make a call on Paddy'
After Friday's match in Luxembourg, Northern Ireland host Hungary in a second friendly international at Windsor Park.
Middlesbrough's Paddy McNair is an injury doubt, Baraclough revealed on Monday.
"There's bruising there and we need to get that sorted and we'll make a call on Paddy later in the week," revealed Barraclough. "He's keen to go as usual. His move is OK.
"It's always good to come back in to see the lads, to see the staff. We've not been together for five months.
"The boys have come in in good spirits. We'll train this afternoon [Monday], train tomorrow and then travel to Luxembourg on Wednesday."