Michael O'Neill says he is looking for continued commitment from his Northern Ireland players as Portsmouth defender declines opportunity to feature against Spain and Andorra

O'Neill made the comments after he confirmed defender Paddy Lane decided against being called-up for the upcoming friendlies against Spain and Andorra next month.

Portsmouth man Lane has won four caps for Northern Ireland but O'Neill says that players need to get used to playing international friendlies in June after the domestic seasons have finished.

O’Neill has welcomed Jonny and Corry Evans back into his squad for the two games, as well as retaining Josh Magennis in the panel – with the Northern Ireland chief praising their willingness to be involved despite being in the latter stages of their careers.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill insists Paddy Lane declined the opportunity to be called-up for next month's friendlies against Spain and Andorra

“Yeah – but we need to get away from that thinking," he said on players agreeing to play internationals rather than taking a break.

"I only had one player Paddy Lane who said he felt he’d benefit from not being involved.

"My argument to that was ‘well, that won’t benefit you going forward because you need to commit to international football. You have to be part of the group, come into the squad and establish yourself in the squad, then try to establish yourself in the team.’ We’re looking for that commitment from the players.

"I went recently out to Belgium to watch Isaac Price and he said ‘can’t wait to come and join up in June’. That’s the attitude that you want from players coming into the squad.

"We hope the players involved in Cup Finals and Shea [Charles] in the [Championship] Play-off Final come through those and join up in the right frame of mind to have a really good camp.

"We probably don't have enough senior players, obviously we lost Davo (Steven Davis) and Stuarty (Dallas) simultaneously, but we also lost Craig Cathcart in the last campaign as well.

"That's a big bulk of your team, but that's the challenge we face at this moment in time. People like Jordan Thompson and Josh Magennis have been about the group for a long time and all of those players are important.

"The fact they are involved in the squad means the younger players really have little to grumble about and should look forward to these opportunities.

"Jonny Evans has over 100 caps and Corry has over 70, Josh is touching somewhere in that region as well. You only get that number if you turn up, no-one gives you them. There's a lesson there for all the players."

O’Neill admits he is relishing the opportunity of getting more time with the players as they continue preparation for the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers.

He explained: "We get a good chance to work on stuff. It's normally quite difficult when you have to travel in between games, you don't get to work a lot on the pitch.

"However on this trip we're essentially in Murcia for the majority of the time, so we'll get a lot more time to work with the players, and that's why it's important they're there.

"This is our preparation for the Nations League and the Nations League is very much preparation for the World Cup when the draw and games come around.”