Despite the challenges of changing calendars, O’Neill believes his squad depth will improve in coming years thanks to his senior squad’s potential for growth and those already performing well in underage panels.
While O’Neill’s success in his first spell was built around a veteran core of players such as Johnny Evans, Steven Davis, Gareth McAuley and Aaron Hughes, his current squad is led by a group only in the early stages of their careers.
Citing Pierce Charles going from the Under-19 European Championships to the senior side’s number one in only a matter of months during 2024, O’Neill has also been enthused by the progress made by the likes of Arsenal’s Ceadach O’Neill, George Feeney of Tottenham, Chris Atherton at Chelsea and under-21 captain Michael Forbes, who is on loan at Northampton Town from West Ham.
“I was trying to keep Johnny, Davo, McAuley and Hughes playing as long as they could. If I could wheel three of them out in Slovakia [next week] I would do it without any hesitation,” he laughed.
“I think with this team, it’s different because this team is only going to get better. I have no doubts about that.
“I always felt with the previous team it was about keeping it together but when I look at this group of players and I see what we have beneath it, I would anticipate hopefully in the next two to three years that those boys are stepping through to play senior international football as well in the way that Shea Charles and Conor Bradley and Isaac Price were at 19 years of age.”
