The international manager yesterday announced a 22-man squad for the Group Three openers against Slovakia and the Czech Republic on September 6 and 10.

It is a daunting double-header as Northern Ireland embark on the ‘Road to South Africa’, but Worthington is confident his fresh-faced squad can handle the pressure and intensity of the World Cup qualifiers.

“I have no concerns about the young age of the squad because I know we also have experience as well,” he said.

“I looked at the group of players after the Scotland match last week, and when you consider you have Jonny Evans (below) at 21, Ryan McGivern (18), Michael O’Connor (21), Sammy Clingan (24), Dean Shiels (23), Martin Paterson (21), Kyle Lafferty (20) and Steven Davis (23), you see a good nucleus of young players backing up the experienced lads we have which I am very pleased with.

“It shows you the work going on behind the scenes to keep producing the young players coming through the system.”

Northern Ireland boasts a squad capable of making an impact on the international stage in the years to come, but Worthington stressed the time to perform was now.

“People talk about this being a squad for the future. There is no future in football – the future is tomorrow – and that’s what we are looking at,” he said.

“We are here to win football matches. I have named six or seven young players with very good ability. If you can name me six or seven experienced players to fill their shoes then I will listen to you.

“One thing I’m not afraid to do is to bring young players through who enjoy playing for their country and play with a smile on their face and be good enough to do it. I think I have proved that with young Michael O’Connor and Ryan McGivern who got his international debut at 18.”

Looking ahead to next Saturday’s curtain-raiser against Slovakia in Bratislava, Worthington added: “We will approach every game as we always do. We will try and win, but we mustn’t underestimate the size of the challenge ahead.

“People talk about the Czech Republic and Poland, but I can assure you that after watching some dvds on Slovakia, we have to be on our guard going into the opening clash.”