NI 'have to be wary' of play-off bans - O'Neill

Northern Ireland will face a 2026 World Cup play-off semi-final in March

2026 World Cup qualifier: Northern Ireland v Luxembourg

Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Monday, 17 November Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

Coverage: Live on BBC Two NI, BBC Three and BBC iPlayer; listen on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster; and live text commentary on BBC Sport app & website

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says he will "have to make a decision" about whether to play those at risk of a suspension in their concluding 2026 World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg at Windsor Park on Monday night.

The hosts have already booked their play-off place thanks to success in last year's Nations League and, after Friday night's 1-0 loss in Slovakia, can finish no higher than third in Group A.

Four players - Trai Hume, Justin Devenny, Josh Magennis and Jamie Reid - go into the game a yellow card away from triggering a one-game suspension that would rule them out of the play-off fixture in March.

"We've got players on yellow cards and we have to be wary of that," he said.

"A second yellow would rule them out of the play-off. These are all factors that come into play.

"We have to make a decision - whether they start the game, whether they come into the game, or whether they do neither."

In a World Cup qualifying campaign, players are banned for one game for accumulating two cautions.

Conor Bradley and Ethan Galbraith have already been forced to sit out a fixture each during Group A through suspension, while Daniel Ballard and George Saville are already banned for Monday's concluding qualifier following cards in the defeat by Slovakia last time out.

While O'Neill said he would have to "hammer home the message" that international football is refereed differently to the club game, he added that two yellow cards across six or eight games is "not a lot" and that he would like to see the possibility of bookings being rescinded in the future.

"We have so much video that you could look at a booking and say, 'Well, actually, that didn't merit a booking'.

"When there's an inconsistency of decisions, I think that there's possibly a fairer way. We don't want players missing games for suspensions.

"If the offence merits a suspension, yes, but I think sometimes we need to find maybe a little bit of middle ground where these things could possibly be overlooked and possibly overturned."

Ruairi McConville made his first start of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign against Slovakia

With Ballard missing out through suspension, and his Sunderland defensive colleague Hume one of the quartet going into the game on a yellow card, one player who seems sure to start against Luxembourg is centre-back Ruairi McConville.

The 19-year-old moved from Brighton to Norwich City in February but did not feature in any of his club's first 12 games of the 2025-26 Championship season.

He has since played in each of the past three and was solid for O'Neill in Slovakia on what was his eighth international cap.

At Carrow Road for less than 10 months, the Canaries' replacement for Liam Manning, who was sacked last week, will already be the third boss of McConville's spell in East Anglia.

While O'Neill said it has not been "an easy transition", he believes his young player will thrive with more time on the pitch.

"First of all, I think we've got a really top young player on our hands that came away from a Premier League club on the basis of going to Norwich City to play," he said.

"There's not many 19-year-old centre-backs playing in the Championship and if there are, they're typically on loan. I don't think Ruairi's had the chance, to be honest. I don't think he's had enough opportunities."

Regardless of the difficult spell at club level, O'Neill added that he had no hesitation in giving McConville his chance on the international stage.

"When we've asked him to play, he's done extremely well. He had a difficult night in Sweden [in a March friendly] with a very, very inexperienced team, but he learned from that.

"He's bright, he understands the game, he asks questions. Physically, he's the profile you would want of a centre-back. He can play.

"It's all ahead of Ruairi. All he needs to continue his development is games."