West Ham, Millwall & QPR handed international call-ups for Northern Ireland amid FIFA 'administrative' battle

Four players from London clubs have been named in Northern Ireland’s squad for their Nations League double-header against Belarus and Bulgaria later this month.

Michael O’Neill’s side opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Luxembourg in Belfast but were then beaten 1-0 by Bulgaria in their September matches. They face Belarus away from home on Saturday, October 12 before welcoming Bulgaria to Windsor Park on Tuesday, October 15. Millwall’s George Saville, Queens Park Rangers’ Paul Smyth, West Ham forward Callum Marshall - who is on loan at League One side Huddersfield Town - and Leyton Orient man Ethan Galbraith are among those selected by O’Neill for the latest set of international matches.

Galbraith and Marshall are far less experienced at international level compared to Saville and Smyth with the Orient man earning three caps since September 2019 while the Irons youngster has been capped four times since his debut in June 2023. The West Ham forward was denied a debut goal back in the summer of 2023 when he scored late on against Denmark but after VAR reviewed the goal for five minutes they ruled there had been an offside in the build-up much to the player’s dismay.

Smyth has been capped 10 times and scored twice for his country while Saville is the most experienced of the London contingent, with 51 appearances for Northern Ireland. He is still waiting for his first goal for the Green and White Army. Northern Ireland did hope to have Ross County’s Ronan Hale in their squad for the two Nations League fixtures but are still waiting clearance from FIFA after he switched his international allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland. Hale represented Ireland at underage level but has not made a senior appearance.

"There has been a lot of communication between me and the player, but the process is the process it is an administrative thing," O'Neill said. "It is not something we can ask Fifa 'can you do that tomorrow for us?'. In our experience it does take a little bit of time, not just with our association but with other associations. It is disappointing it hasn't come through yet, but if I'm honest I didn't expect it to in this period of time, but Ronan is a player we watch now as if he is our own player."

Northern Ireland squad

Goalkeepers: Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Birmingham City), Luke Southwood (Bolton Wanderers), Pierce Charles (Sheffield Wednesday).

Defenders: Paddy McNair (West Bromwich Albion, on loan from San Diego FC), Jamal Lewis (Sao Paulo, on loan from Newcastle United), Daniel Ballard (Sunderland), Ciaron Brown (Oxford United), Trai Hume (Sunderland), Brodie Spencer (Huddersfield Town), Eoin Toal (Bolton Wanderers).

Midfielders: George Saville (Millwall), Jordan Thompson (Stoke City), Alistair McCann (Preston North End), Conor Bradley (Liverpool), Shea Charles (Sheffield Wednesday, on loan from Southampton), Isaac Price (Standard Liege), Paul Smyth (Queens Park Rangers), Ethan Galbraith (Leyton Orient), Ross McCausland (Rangers), Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock), Caolan Boyd-Munce (St Mirren).

Forwards: Josh Magennis (Exeter City), Dion Charles (Bolton Wanderers), Jamie Reid (Stevenage Town), Callum Marshall (Huddersfield Town, on loan from West Ham United).