Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill says he would have no reservations handing a senior international debut to teenage goalkeeper Pierce Charles.
The prospect of that has increased following the withdrawal of usual No.1 Bailey Peacock-Farrell for the upcoming Nations League games against Belarus and Bulgaria.
The Birmingham City player was on course to earn his 50th cap in this window had he played in both games but a shoulder injury has ruled him out.
Also absent for Saturday’s match with Belarus in Hungary and next Tuesday’s home clash against Bulgaria is Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard due to an ankle issue.
Losing Peacock-Farrell and Ballard is a major blow and will mean significant changes to O’Neill’s starting line-up.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell during Northern Ireland’s defeat to Bulgaria in Plovdiv
An Irish FA statement said there were no plans at this stage to call up replacements for the pair but it would be a surprise if the 23-man squad was not added to, especially in the goalkeeping department with only Sheffield Wednesday’s Charles and Bolton’s Luke Southwood left in the party.
With Peacock-Farrell unavailable, Plymouth’s Conor Hazard would have been favourite to start between the sticks but he is also injured, leaving O’Neill with a big call to make regarding Charles and Southwood.
Wednesday’s Charles is 19 while Bolton’s Southwood, who has one cap, is 26.
Neither are first choices at club level but already this year teenager Charles, who is the younger brother of midfielder Shea, has impressed in the Euro Under-19 Championship and at Under-21 level, starting in the 0-0 draw with England. It seems only a matter of time before he plays his first senior international.
Bolton’s Luke Southwood has been called up for the Nations League fixtures against Belarus and Bulgaria
Speaking before the squad met up in Manchester in preparation for the forthcoming double header, O’Neill said he would not have any reservations about playing Charles if required.
“We will evaluate the goalkeepers when they come in. Luke has predominantly been a No.2 at Bolton and obviously Pierce is No.2 at Sheffield Wednesday at this moment in time,” said O’Neill.
“It’s not that we have a goalkeeper playing every week.
“Pierce is different for us as a goalkeeper to be so young. He’s probably the youngest goalkeeper we’ve had in the senior squad since Roy Carroll.
“There’s things that need to develop in his game but when he was with us in June, he impressed everybody in terms of how he was with the group, his quality as a goalkeeper and his mentality was very good.
“If you are asking me if I was in a situation where I had to play Pierce, would I have any reservations? I wouldn’t have any reservations about playing him.
“I watched him very closely in the Under-19s Euros and he had a very strong tournament. He is excellent with the ball at his feet and everyone knows the quality of his distribution and his play and he is a young goalkeeper with a lot of potential.
“Like with any young goalkeeper, the hardest part is how do you get on the pitch. That’s something I have seen with other young goalkeepers.
“For Pierce, the most important thing is to find a way to get to first team football as quickly as possible whether that is on loan or with his own club.”
Michael O’Neill has praised Pierce Charles
Northern Ireland will work at Stockport County’s training ground at Carrington until Thursday when they jet out to Hungary to prepare for the weekend game against Belarus at the neutral ZTE Arena in Zalaegerszeg.
Meanwhile, O’Neill is convinced that Peacock-Farrell’s mistake that led to Bulgaria winning last month’s Nations League game will have no long-term negative impact on the Birmingham goalkeeper.
Before the trip to Plovdiv in September, Peacock-Farrell had kept three clean sheets in his previous four internationals but a stray pass in the first-half from the 27-year-old led to Kiril Despodov scoring the only goal of the game for the home side.
“We spoke after the game back in the hotel and there’s not a lot I can say to him other than ‘put it behind you and move on’,” said O’Neill.
“The best goalkeepers make mistakes. Bailey hasn’t made too many mistakes for Northern Ireland that has cost us directly a goal.
“He went back to his club and he has had a tricky enough start to his career at Birmingham City and this is a test. All these situations test players and you have to play through that.
“Mentally, he will be tested a bit but he has Maik Taylor there at Birmingham as goalkeeping coach and he has Tony Caig, who works with Newcastle and ourselves, to lean on as well, and probably a goalkeeper leans more on his goalkeeping coach than he does on the manager, if I’m being honest.
“I know he has had a lot of support from David Rouse as well, who previously worked with us, so he will have a lot of people to lean on but, ultimately, he has to play through this period.
“He has proven himself to be a good goalkeeper and you don’t become a bad goalkeeper overnight and I’ve no doubts that long term, he will be fine.”