Northern Ireland Men's Football Team

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Conor Bradley will remain sidelined for a "few weeks" with a muscle injury, according to Liverpool boss Arne Slot.

The 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender was forced off during Liverpool's Premier League draw with Aston Villa on 19 February.

Having missed the league leaders' win over Manchester City on Sunday, Slot was unable to provide a timeline for Bradley's return.

"I cannot exactly tell how many [weeks he will miss]," Slot said ahead of Liverpool's game against Newcastle on Wednesday.

"It's clear he went off with a muscle injury and it's going to take a while before he's back."

Bradley's injury raises doubts that he will regain fitness in time for Northern Ireland's friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden on 21 and 25 March.

Bradley has won 23 caps for Northern Ireland and captained the team for the first time in October.

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Tanya Oxtoby says the Irish Football Association's development of a new National Training Centre at Galgorm would be 'massively helpful".

It was revealed on Monday that the centre will be located next to the Galgorm Resort, just outside Ballymena

It would include elite pitches and facilities for men's and women's senior and youth teams, with planning permission being sought.

"It's massively helpful - we speak about it all the time, trying to create a high-performing environment," said Oxtoby ahead of Tuesday night's Nations Cup game against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"You've seen it with nations who have built training centres for their national teams – feeling like its yours and knowing what you're getting every single time you turn up and ultimately I suppose get the best performance for your playing group.

"That's what we're about so for us it's exciting, we're really looking forward to it."

Northern Ireland captain Simone Magill believes the training centre will help develop players.

"It's definitely something that we'll welcome," said the Birmingham City striker.

"If I look at my experiences of being in elite environments and facilities it just shows the dedication that the Association has to make things better and have those elite facilities here in Northern Ireland.

"For young players growing up to have something like that is only going to help develop the game here. Other countries already have those things and we don't want to fall behind here."

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Former Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough has quit his role as director of football with National League side AFC Fylde.

The 54-year-old held the Northern Ireland post for two years before being sacked in October 2022.

Following a spell as Cheltenham Town assistant manager, he joined Fylde in November, with his brief stay coming to an end on Monday.

Fylde, who are managed by former England and Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips, beat Wealdstone 2-0 on Saturday but sit a lowly 22nd in the National League.

"It is with a heavy heart that I have taken the difficult decision to step away from the football club after our excellent home victory over Wealdstone on Saturday," said Baraclough.

"I walk away with the knowledge that the director of football role is one that I am totally comfortable with and the experience will stand me in good stead for the future.

"It has been an enjoyably challenging, busy few months and hopefully I am leaving the club in a better place. Looking forward to continuing my journey."

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Northern Ireland will face Sweden in March as Michael O'Neill's team prepare for the start of World Cup qualifying.

They will travel to Stockholm on 25 March to face the side currently 27th in the world rankings at the Strawberry Arena.

Plans for a second friendly match to be played before the trip to the Swedish capital are still to be confirmed by the Irish Football Association [IFA].

"The game will be a great opportunity to test ourselves against a higher ranked team similar to what we will face in World Cup 2026 qualification," O'Neill told the IFA website.

"We have made progress in the last 12 months, continuing to introduce younger players into the squad and developing a system and style of play."

Northern Ireland had a strong 2024 as they topped their Nations League group.

The standout result for O'Neill's youthful squad was a 5-0 win over Bulgaria in Belfast in October as Isaac Price scored a hat-trick.

Conor Bradley scored the winning goal as NI collected an impressive friendly win in Scotland in March.

Northern Ireland begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in Luxembourg in September.

Sweden last faced Northern Ireland in a Euro 2008 qualifier when the sides drew 1-1. Earlier in the campaign David Healy scored a famous double in a 2-1 win at Windsor Park.

As well as the friendlies in March, Northern Ireland will also discover their final opponent in World Cup qualifying as Italy and Germany face off in the Nations League play-off.

The winner of that tie will join Northern Ireland, Luxembourg and Slovakia in Group A.

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Ross County forward Ronan Hale is now eligible to play for Northern Ireland.

International clearance for the Belfast-born 26-year-old has come through from Fifa after a number of months of waiting for paperwork to be finalised.

Hale had previously represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 level.

The former Larne and Cliftonville forward, who has scored five times in 20 Scottish Premiership games for Ross County this season, is now available to be selected by Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill.

Hale, who started his career at Birmingham City, has also had spells will Derry City, Crusaders and St Patrick's Athletic.

He scored two goals in last season's Irish Cup final to help Cliftonville to their first truimph in the competition since 1979.

He then moved to Scottish Premiership side Ross County for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.