Northern Ireland Men's Football Team

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Jamal Lewis and Ross McCausland will miss Northern Ireland's Nations League games against Belarus and Luxembourg because of injury.

Defender Lewis, who is on loan at Sao Paulo from Newcastle, has an ankle injury whilst Rangers winger McCausland has been nursing a foot problem.

Both have left the camp and will be unavailable for Friday's game at Windsor Park and Monday's final Nations League fixture in Luxembourg.

"We have two that will miss out, Ross McCausland came into camp with a foot injury, and we felt the best thing was to send him back to his club," NI boss Michael O'Neill told BBC Sport NI.

"Jamal Lewis came in with an ankle issue and he has left the camp as well, so we have a 25-man squad and we have more than enough to get through the two games."

O'Neill is already without defenders Paddy McNair and Eoin Toal for the double-header because of hamstring injuries.

Shea Charles will captain the side against Belarus in his 22nd appearance for the senior team.

The Southampton midfielder, who is on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, made his debut two years ago against Greece under former manager Ian Baraclough.

Northern Ireland sit top of Nations League C Group 3 with seven points after two wins, one draw and one defeat from their four fixtures in the competition to date.

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Sunderland defender Trai Hume says Northern Ireland need to "back up" their last Nations League performance and try to win their group as they prepare to face Belarus on Friday.

Michael O'Neill's side beat Bulgaria 5-0 in their last match and now sit top of League C Group 3 going into their final two group games.

"It was a great result. The fans enjoyed it and we enjoyed it," Hume told BBC Sport NI.

"It's hard to win games like that and it'll be hard to back it up but the most important thing is to try and get the three points."

After Belarus visit Windsor Park on Friday night, Northern Ireland complete their campaign against Luxembourg away on Monday.

O'Neill's side have established a good run of results at home, having won their past four matches in Belfast - a run that Hume is keen to extend.

"Nearly every time we play at Windsor Park, we get a result or put in a good performance so we just need to keep that up," he said.

"The fans are brilliant as always so they just need to keep on pushing us and hopefully we can keep winning for them."

Victory will bring more than just home pride for Northern Ireland.

Securing top spot in their Nations League group could open up a back-door route to the 2026 World Cup finals through the play-offs.

"We need to try and back up [our last performances] as best we can going into these next two games and try and win the group," Hume added.

"The Euro campaign didn't go the way we probably wanted it to go with a lot of performances and a lot of results, so building off the back of that I think we've done really well the past 18 months.

"It's a young group and we just need to keep on getting better."

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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says the process of securing international clearance for Ronan Hale to switch allegiance from the Republic of Ireland remains "a work in progress".

The Ross County striker remains unavailable for selection for the forthcoming Nations League matches against Belarus and Luxembourg on 15 and 18 November.

The 26-year-old former Cliftonville frontman played for the Republic at age-group level, before deciding to begin the process of becoming available to Northern Ireland.

"It’s a work in progress. It is an administration process which is in the hands of Fifa. There were one or two things around passports being produced and that has all been done," explained Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill.

"I kind of knew when I had the conversation with Ronan, I warned him this is not something that will be done overnight. I’ve seen this take as long as six, eight, 10 months on occasions so the important thing is that we follow all the right steps, which we have."

O'Neill had hoped to have the forward at his disposal for some of his side's Nations League Group C3 fixtures but must now hope that the former Irish League striker will be available for the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in March.

“What determines how a player does at international level, and whether he is selected, is their club form. So Ronan just has to continue what he has been doing and that’s focus on his club game.

“He was on the bench on Saturday for Ross County, He did well in the second half, so we are watching him as a player we intend to look at and come under consideration to be picked for the squad."