Injured players a 'big loss' for NI - O'Neill

Northern Ireland will play 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia on 14 November and Luxembourg on 17 November

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill will be without key midfield duo Shea Charles and Ali McCann for this month's 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.

Southampton midfielder Charles misses out with a hamstring injury, while McCann fractured his arm in action for Preston North End last month.

Charles' younger brother, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles, is also absent with the shoulder problem that has kept him out of Northern Ireland's past four games.

Oxford United defender Brodie Spencer is another absentee in a squad that sees uncapped Barnsley midfielder Patrick Kelly promoted from the under-21s.

"All three lads will be a big loss to us and obviously on top of what we already had with Pierce," said O'Neill of three players who all started against Germany last time out.

"The squad has been tested I think and they've stood up to that and showed great character and they'll have to show that again."

Northern Ireland are third in Group A, three points behind leaders Germany and second-place Slovakia with two games remaining.

They face Slovakia in Kosice on 14 November before concluding their campaign at home to Luxembourg three days later.

Swansea midfielder Ethan Galbraith is in the squad but will be suspended for the first game of the double-header.

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Northern Ireland squad

Goalkeepers: Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Blackpool, on loan from Birmingham City), Conor Hazard (Plymouth Argyle), Luke Southwood (Bristol Rovers)

Defenders: Daniel Ballard (Sunderland), Trai Hume (Sunderland), Paddy McNair (San Diego), Conor Bradley (Liverpool), Ciaron Brown (Oxford United), Eoin Toal (Bolton Wanderers), Ruairi McConville (Norwich City), Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), Ryan Johnson (AFC Wimbledon)

Midfielders: George Saville (Luton Town), Isaac Price (West Bromwich Albion), Paul Smyth (Queens Park Rangers), Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City), Justin Devenny (Crystal Palace), Ross McCausland (Aris Limassol, on loan from Rangers), Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock), Jamie Donley (Stoke City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie McDonnell (Mansfield Town, on loan from Nottingham Forest), Patrick Kelly (Barnsley)

Forwards: Josh Magennis (Exeter City), Dion Charles (Huddersfield Town), Callum Marshall (West Ham United), Jamie Reid (Stevenage)

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Former West Ham player Kelly, who moved to Oakwell in the summer, has previously played 12 times for the under-21s and is the only new face in O'Neill's panel despite the injuries.

"He made a brave move. There was a chance he could have gone on loan in the summer and he felt himself, having spoken to him in the summer, he felt he'd be better going on a permanent basis," added O'Neill.

"Conor Hourihane at Barnsley obviously rated him highly to pay a fee for him and bring him in and be part of that squad and I think in the last month in particular he's played extremely well."

Absentees will leave O'Neill requiring creative solutions

While Conor Bradley and Isaac Price may garner more headlines, Shea Charles and Ali McCann have become the fulcrum around which O'Neill has built his side.

The manager has said previously that McCann is the sort of player his side "miss the most when he's not available", while Charles is a driving force from midfield and perhaps the best passer of the ball in the side, something all the more important in the absence of his brother's distribution from between the posts.

Moving Justin Devenny or Paddy McNair, regular starters at left wing-back and centre-back respectively, into central midfield roles is an option, although that would leave similar holes to fill elsewhere.

If not for his own injury, Spencer would have been the most obvious option to fill in for Devenny down the left flank.

For the Slovakia game at least, there is also the question of who replaces Galbraith with Northern Ireland without their entire starting midfield trio from their past four qualifiers.

With a small pool of players to choose from, the injuries will be a real test of Northern Ireland's depth and perhaps O'Neill's ability to find alternative solutions.

"We would probably have to be a little bit creative in the midfield area or we would maybe be potentially quite inexperienced in that area," he said.

"There's a balance between experience and maybe asking players to do something a little bit different in this game, but not something that they're not capable of.

"There are different things that we can look at. I think we just have to make sure that the squad that we've named now gets through the midweek fixtures and the fixtures at the weekend as well."