'We’ve got a chance to build together': Michael O’Neill believes the future is now for Northern Ireland

Throughout last year’s disappointing Euro 2024 campaign – in which Michael O’Neill’s side lost seven out of 10 qualifiers – there was regular reference to an injury list that included Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and Corry Evans.

Long-time skipper Davis accepted defeat in his bid to return from a knee injury in December and is now part of O’Neill’s backroom team, while last month Dallas also retired, unable to overcome the setbacks suffered in his recovery from a double leg break.

Corry Evans is back for next month’s friendlies against Spain and Andorra – his first call up since September 2022 following a serious knee injury – as is his elder brother Jonny, but the focus has shifted from the older players in O’Neill’s squad.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill is excited by his side's future ahead of next month's qualifiers

Northern Ireland come into these fixtures on the back of several encouraging results, beating Denmark at home in their final qualifier before March’s draw in Romania and win over Scotland at Hampden Park, all results in which their young stars shone.

Conor Bradley, Trai Hume, Shea Charles and Isaac Price are among the names that excite Northern Ireland fans now, and O’Neill has spoken to his young players to emphasise this is their time to take ownership of the side.

“We’ve had those conversations within the group and outlined to them that this group of players could be together for a long time,” O’Neill told the PA news agency. “Five of the players who played against Scotland were under 21 and we had another three on the bench.

“These are very young players, still in the infancy of their club careers, but we’ve got a chance to build together.

“There will be negative experiences along the way and we had to deal with it during the qualifying campaign, and there is an acceptance some of the senior players are no longer with us, but we have to make sure we put as much into this group as possible.

“The commitment of the group has to be there as well and that is something we’ve very encouraged about.”

Northern Ireland travel to Mallorca to face Spain on June 8 before playing Andorra in Murcia three days later, two very different opponents which will provide different tests.

“You’re looking for a consistent level of performance,” O’Neill said. “One game you anticipate not having a lot of the ball, Spain keep the ball against any team they play against, and we have to develop that side of our game, something we showed very well in March.

“Then it’s a game where you’re expected to win and have a lot more of the ball. They’re two games that give us an opportunity to show both sides of the personality of this team. The biggest thing we have to improve on is with the ball.”

O’Neill chose these fixtures in order to be able to have a warm-weather training camp with his squad, with an eye on the Nations League later in the year but also next year’s World Cup qualifiers.

“We get 10 or 11 days with the players to prepare the squad and to talk about where we believe we are going forward,” O’Neill said.

“The important thing is every time you get together you see a progression in terms of the style of the team, the discipline in and out of possession, and that’s something we’re continuing to build on.”