Northern Ireland’s latest Nations League campaign starts away to Georgia on 25 September and Ceadach O’Neill is one of four teenagers in the squad alongside Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson, Everton forward Braiden Graham and Kieran Morrison – the Liverpool winger currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
Atcheson and Morrison were both born in England but qualify for Northern Ireland through grandparents and represented the side at underage level before making their senior bows in March and June respectively.
“Kieran deserved the chance to play because he’d been around the Liverpool first team. He’d been showing up well in training as well, both in March and June,” said O’Neill after naming a 28-man squad for the four-game window.
“Braiden is the same. They’re there because this is the next step for them. I believe being part of the senior international squad will help them, will help their club careers, but they merit a place in a 28-man squad. They merit their place in that squad over some players that aren’t in my opinion.
“My job is to protect the national team going forward and to build the squad as strong as possible. To do that you have to look at your young players.”
Entrusting young players with key roles, in many cases before they are established at their club sides, has been common practice for Northern Ireland in recent years.
Conor Bradley, Isaac Price and the Charles brothers, Shea and Pierce, all made their international debuts as teenagers, while Sunderland pair Dan Ballard and Trai Hume broke into the side as 20-year-olds.
O’Neill himself won his first cap at 18 in 1988 and cited Norman Whiteside making an international debut as a 17-year-old at the 1982 World Cup as another example of how the side relied on early exposure for young players long before any eligibility issues came to the fore.
“This is not new for Northern Ireland. We’ve done this in the past,” he added.
“I understand how this works. We’re doing it based on the level of the player and that’s the most important thing.”