Northern Ireland hit with late injury blow as Michael O'Neill's matchday squad list confirmed

UEFA produced an updated matchday squad list on Thursday morning and McCann was a glaring omission with the Preston North End star failing to recover from a knock picked up while on club duty earlier this month.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill was hopeful during his pre-match press conference that McCann would feature, but he will now have to alter plans for the crucial clash against a star-studded Italian squad.

It’s a further blow for O’Neill, who is already without talisman Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard due to injury.

McCann played in four of Northern Ireland’s six World Cup qualifying matches – he missed the final two through injury – and has amassed 33 caps since making his debut in November 2020.

O’Neill will welcome Shea Charles back into his squad on Thursday with the Southampton midfielder likely playing alongside Ethan Galbraith – George Saville or Brad Lyons could be drafted in for McCann.

Elsewhere, Liverpool teenager Kieran Morrison, who received his first senior call-up earlier this month, has been left out of the matchday squad alongside Josh Clarke, Dion Charles and Jamie McDonnell.

Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson could be in line to make his debut after being included – the 19-year-old has worked closely with boss O’Neill at the Championship club.

Several high-profile Italian stars have been named in Gennaro Gattuso’s squad with Alessandro Bastoni and Sandro Tonali recovering in time to be included.

Former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca has missed out for the Italians through injury while Andrea Cambiaso, Elia Caprile, Diego Coppola and winger Nicolò Cambiaghi haven’t made the cut.

O’Neill feels Northern Ireland can play with freedom due to the pressure being on Italy and called on his players to step up to the occasion.

“I think you have to realise that we’ve done incredibly well to be in this position,” he said. "There’s a lot of bigger nations than us that are not at this point in the competition.

"I’m incredibly proud of the players for being in this situation after a qualification group where we faced difficulties with players who were not available to us.

“I don’t think I need to instil any belief in them. I think they know what’s at stake. I think being the smaller nation, with the expectation on the home nation, we come into the game a little bit looser, with a little bit more freedom in ourselves.

“We just want to make sure we give a performance where we do ourselves justice in the game, and obviously try to take the next step in the competition.”