Josh Magennis has not been named in the Northern Ireland squad

Michael O’Neill has revealed that the conversation with ‘King of Lyon’ Josh Magennis about not selecting him for his latest squad was not a difficult one because the Exeter forward may play again for Northern Ireland in the future.

There was surprise among the Green and White Army when the experienced striker was not named in the panel for the upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden, but O’Neill explained the reasoning behind it was that he knows the qualities that Magennis can bring and wanted to use this month’s games to see what the likes of Lee Bonis, Ronan Hale and Dale Taylor can do.