Euro 2024 qualifiers: Failure to qualify a 'missed opportunity', says NI boss O'Neill
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Another night of dejection for Northern Ireland players after the 1-0 defeat by Kazakhstan last month
Northern Ireland's failure to qualify for Euro 2024 will represent something of a "missed opportunity", says manager Michael O'Neill.
O'Neill acknowledged the optimism among players and fans when they were drawn with Denmark, Slovenia, Finland, Kazakhstan and San Marino in Group H.
However, five straight defeats have all but ended their qualification hopes with four games remaining.
"I think it does," he said when asked if it felt like a missed opportunity.
He added: "We have been in groups in the past where we have had the likes of Germany and the Netherlands, and were still very competitive.
"I think when you avoid those games you always have a little bit of optimism and I understand that. You could feel it with the media, the fans felt it too and so did the players, which was very important.
"I feel it would have been a missed opportunity if we had had our strongest team out and then we were short. The frustrating thing for me is that we have not really been short in many of the games, we have just come out on the wrong side of them.
"Maybe with a more solid and more senior squad we would have been able to navigate those games a bit better than we have done."
Job feels 'different' to what it did in December
O'Neill led Northern Ireland to their first Euro finals in 2016 during his first reign as national team manager before he left in 2019 to take over Stoke City.
He was reappointed as Ian Baraclough's successor in December and spoke positively of the team's chances of reaching next summer's finals in Germany, but since then he has had to cope with a series of injuries which have weakened the teams he has been able to select.
The experienced quartet of captain Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson have been long-term injuries, while senior players such as Jonny Evans, Josh Magennis and Conor Washington - as well as youngsters Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard - have been missing at various stages.
O'Neill was philosophical about the injury plight and the current position of his squad, but also said the past three international camps have been the most difficult of his international management career.
"It feels different," he said when asked if the job now is a bigger one than it felt when he took over in December.
"I'll be honest, when I came back in December I had a group of players I had already been in contact with that was very motivated on this being a great campaign.
"Then, suddenly, by January we were decimated a little bit by long-term injuries to three of those players and then we picked up more injuries along the way, meaning player availability has been very, very challenging in this campaign.
"I thought that this phase of the job [integrating young players into the team] would come after the summer of 2024, but it has probably been brought forward."
He added: "These three camps have arguably been the most challenging camps that I have had an a national team manager. Those are, unfortunately, the cards that we have been dealt."
Healy 'entitled to his opinion' but IFA not to blame for player cycle
O'Neill was speaking as he announced his squad for Northern Ireland's upcoming home qualifiers against San Marino, on Saturday, 14 October, and the visit of Slovenia three days later.
After last month's away defeats by Slovenia and Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland's record goalscorer David Healy strongly criticised the Irish FA, saying there have been "structural failings" in the association which have hindered the country's progress.
O'Neill said he has not spoken to Linfield manager Healy since he made the comments and gave a defence of the IFA while saying Healy is entitled to his opinion.
"I haven't spoken to David. Obviously people within the association have had those conversations," he explained.
"Look, it wasn't a huge issue for me, people are entitled to their opinion. Sometimes people on live TV can dig a hole for themselves. It wasn't a sit-down interview that was done.
"There are certain things in the association that we obviously want to make improvements on as much as we can and the national training centre is something that is badly needed.
"Where we are at this minute in time as a squad and as a nation in terms of competitiveness is that we are coming towards the end of a cycle of older players who have played a lot and we have a young cycle coming through.
"Where we are probably light at this moment in time is in the mid-section, that 25 to 30-year-old age group. That is not something the association can take the blame for. That is just the cycle of players that has come through."
Marshall 'could have an impact at international level'
Having not selected him for last month's Euro qualifiers, O'Neill has recalled 18-year-old West Ham striker Callum Marshall for the upcoming double-header.
He scored a disallowed goal on his debut against Denmark in Copenhagen in June and has netted 12 times in nine appearances for the Hammers' Under-21 side this season.
Callum Marshall is consoled by Michael O'Neill after the defeat by Denmark on his NI debut
O'Neill likened his instinctiveness to Healy's and was enthusiastic about his finishing ability and what his attitude brings to the squad.
"He has an instinct that we have probably not had for a while, going back to when David [Healy] came into the squad.
"I remember watching David play at the start under Sammy and he hadn't played at all I think for Manchester United at that point in time and yet he could come and have an impact at international level.
"I wouldn't want to compare Callum and David at this time, but I think what he is doing is making an impact every time he goes on the pitch.
"He has a freshness about him and a naivety about him which is good. He just comes in and trains and plays and lifts everyone a little bit. He believes he is going to score. In training that is all he is thinking about all of the time."