Fifa World Cup qualifier: Luxembourg v Northern Ireland

Venue: Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Date: Thursday, 4 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Watch live on BBC One NI, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said his side's late arrival in Luxembourg for Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifier was a "little bit frustrating" but he remains happy with their match preparation.

The squad assembled in Liverpool on Sunday, using the facilities of the Premier League champions for a training base before travelling the day before the first game of their qualifying campaign.

Due to fly from Liverpool to Luxembourg on Wednesday afternoon, an Irish Football Association spokesman said their "charter aircraft was late repositioning from Gatwick due to adverse weather conditions in the south of England, followed by some issues with ground handling".

The squad eventually arrived at their team hotel shortly after 20:00 BST, less than 24 hours before kick-off at the Stade de Luxembourg.

O'Neill's side have previously travelled two days before a game, but the manager said the benefit of their training sessions in Liverpool "far outweighed" an earlier arrival in Luxembourg.

"Really the players were fine, it's just a bit frustrating because when you get all your work done and you leave the hotel, you want to try and get here as soon as possible and get in the hotel, but the fact is we've had three great days training at Liverpool.

"We did our matchday session that we would normally do here, we did it at Liverpool [on Wednesday morning] and we'll have one session [on Thursday] morning just to re-run things and touch on a few things like set-pieces again and we'll be ready to play."

Northern Ireland played Luxembourg away in November in the Nations League, leading 2-0 before being pegged back to draw 2-2 in a result that secured the point they needed to top their group in the third tier of the competition.

O'Neill added that familiarity with the stadium contributed to the decision to conduct most of their preparations for Thursday's game in Liverpool.

"The reality of the situation is that you never know what level of privacy you have in the stadium when you train," he said.

"We knew we'd played here recently, so we know the stadium, we know the pitch, that's not something that they [the players] need to familiarise themselves with.

"The benefit of that is obviously we trained earlier, so the recovery period is longer for the players than what it would be if we were trained here [in Luxembourg on Wednesday].

"Look, it's what a lot of the bigger nations do. When the bigger nations come to Belfast, they often don't train at the stadium, so we just felt that it was worth it in this situation."

Northern Ireland are missing a host of players from a 25-man squad that, after Luxembourg on Thursday, will also face Germany in Cologne on Sunday, with both games live across the BBC.

Goalkeeper Pierce Charles and defenders Brodie Spencer and Dan Ballard are among those who will miss the games, but O'Neill believes his panel have "enough to deal with" the challenge.

"We've called up players to give them the opportunity and I'm pleased with the lads that have come in," he said.

"They've trained very well and what we have seen with a lot of our lads is international football has helped their domestic and their club careers and so they have to take that opportunity.

"The one thing I'm never in control of is obviously players who get injured playing for their club, and I think we've got enough to deal with the two games."

One player who arrived for the international double-header in a rich vein of form is Stevenage striker Jamie Reid who has scored five goals in six games to start the League One campaign.

The 31-year-old scored against Romania on his international debut in March 2024 but suffered a blood clot in his leg in the summer that followed. With the subsequent lay-off affecting his form through the 2024-25 season, Reid missed out on international squads in both March and June this year.

"Jamie had an injury that was quite a frustrating injury because he could train but he couldn't get into contact, and then I think he didn't really have a great pre-season last season and his form suffered," O'Neill said.

"Like any striker, when your form suffers, your confidence and everything is shaken a little bit by that and I think he's probably benefited from the break.

"Obviously, we didn't put him in March and June gave us a chance to look at other strikers as well, but he started the season the best of any of the strikers that we have. I've seen him in the first game of the season, he looks strong, he looks sharp again and he's had a very good start to the season."