Northern Ireland return to action with a friendly against Romania in Bucharest on Friday night.
The fixture is the first of back-to-back away games, with a trip to Glasgow to face Scotland up next.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the Romania game.
Youth movementAfter a hugely disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign ruined by injuries, it is time for Michael O’Neill to hit the reset button. Those injuries accelerated the need for a rebuild of the Northern Ireland squad, and almost half of the players in O’Neill’s camp have 10 caps or less, and only two of them – Josh Magennis and George Saville – are over the age of 30. But there is much to be encouraged by, with Conor Bradley, Shea Charles, Isaac Price and Trai Hume among a group of exciting young players who can, given time, get them back to a major tournament. These games are about getting more experience into those players ahead of bigger challenges to come.
Bradley’s break-outAfter starring on loan at League One Bolton last term, Bradley has hit the spotlight in recent months after breaking into Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side with a string of eye-catching displays. In January he scored his first goal and provided two assists in a man-of-the-match display in a 4-1 win over Chelsea, and a month later he lifted the Carabao Cup. The 20-year-old missed the last six Euro qualifiers through injury last term, but Northern Ireland will be excited to welcome back a player who deserves to have some extra swagger in his step.
Davis’ new roleAfter missing more than a year with a serious knee injury, long-time Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis made the difficult decision to announce his retirement in January. But the 39-year-old is not one to stay away for long and has promptly joined O’Neill’s backroom staff for these games. His long-term role is yet to be determined and may depend on whether he makes a move into club coaching, but for now both O’Neill and his players are delighted to have their old skipper’s huge experience to draw on as they mould a new-look team.
Taking the long viewNorthern Ireland will have more friendlies to come in June, there is expected to be a warm-weather training camp in Spain, before the Nations League returns in September. Northern Ireland have not had much fun in UEFA’s newest tournament to date and have dropped into League C, where they will face Belarus, Bulgaria, and Luxembourg later in the year. But the campaign that O’Neill and his players point to more than the Nations League is the World Cup qualifying that starts in early 2025. The goal is to have the squad ready to take on that task in a year’s time.
No easy capsAlthough O’Neill has spoken extensively about the lack of experience in his squad, he was adamant he would not be putting players in for the sake of it. “We have to create competition,” the manager said. “You have to earn the right to get on the pitch.” The uncapped Aaron Donnelly has joined up with the squad from the under-21s in the absence of Dan Ballard, who has not travelled after becoming a father. Caolan Boyd-Munce and Jamie Reid, the Stevenage striker who has received his first call-up at the age of 29, are the other players in the squad still awaiting their first taste of international football.
De Bruyne: Man City know title race 'is not over'
Kevin De Bruyne insists the Manchester City players know the Premier League title race is not over, despite being in the driving seat with just one game left.
The Citizens beat Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday in their game in hand over leaders Arsenal, leapfrogging them to the top of the table.
City will host West Ham on the final weekend and as long as Pep Guardiola’s side match Arsenal’s result against Everton, they will win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title.
De Bruyne has played down suggestions that City celebrated like they had already won the title following the victory.
"We were happy, obviously, because it gets in the place that we wanted to be on Sunday," he told Sky Sports. "I didn't feel like there were any extra celebrations.
"Obviously, you're happy to win the game, but we know it's not done yet.
"I know everybody's talking now saying it should be easy, but we're used to playing these couple of games against Brighton and Villa before and it's never easy. There's always the pressure of being in that situation, so I think it's quite normal."
City’s win over Tottenham makes them big favourites to win the title, with the Opta supercomputer giving them an 84.3 per cent chance of lifting the Premier League trophy once more.
During their victory at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, sections of the crowd cheered Erling Haaland’s opener by doing the Poznan, a celebration often used by the City fans, as the result shifted the title race out of their North London rivals' favour.
Asked if he had ever played in an environment like that before, De Bruyne added: "I think it's strange, but I didn't feel it from a players perspective.
"I have to say I thought Tottenham were really good, I think they played better than they did the weeks before.
"Fans are always a different thing, but I feel it's more feeding from outside, I never thought that from the players' or coaches' perspective, they would not come and give their best. That's the only thing we worry about."
Italy forward Zaniolo to miss Euro 2024 due to foot injury
Italy forward Nicolo Zaniolo will miss Euro 2024 after suffering a foot injury during Aston Villa's Premier League draw with Liverpool on Monday.
Zaniolo – who joined Unai Emery's side on a season-long loan from Galatasaray last August – came on as a second-half substitute as they fought back from 3-1 down to clinch a 3-3 draw at Villa Park.
That result moved Villa closer to securing Champions League qualification, which was confirmed when Tottenham lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City on Tuesday.
Zaniolo only lasted 14 minutes following his 65th-minute introduction before being withdrawn himself, though, and scans have shown he sustained a microfracture to his foot.
The 24-year-old has now confirmed he will be unable to feature in Italy's title defence at the Euros, with their Group B campaign set to begin against Albania on June 15.
In a post to his Instagram account, Zaniolo wrote: "Thank you for your support in these hours, to you Villans and to the many Italian and Turkish fans. I can't wait to get back on the field stronger than before!
"Unfortunately, I will have to give up my dream of representing my country in a major competition. But that day will come, I'm sure, and it will be beautiful! Come on Azzurri!"
Zaniolo also missed Italy's triumphant run at the delayed Euro 2020 three years ago as he was recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Arsenal's decision to let Miedema leave 'shocking and outrageous', says White
Arsenal's decision to let Vivianne Miedema leave the club has been described as "shocking" and "outrageous" by former Gunners striker Ellen White.
On Monday, Arsenal announced Miedema – the all-time record scorer in the Women's Super League with 79 goals in the competition – will depart when her contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Miedema helped Arsenal win the WSL title in 2018-19 and clinched the competition's Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. In all competitions, she has scored 125 goals and added 50 assists in 172 appearances for the Gunners since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2017.
She has played just 13 games in 2023-24, however, having undergone knee surgery in March. That came after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered in December 2022 sidelined her for 10 months.
Manchester City have been linked with a move for the Netherlands star, and White believes Arsenal will regret letting her go.
"I think it's an absolutely shocking decision by the club, to be honest," White told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly.
"I just think it's shocking that they haven't shown her the love to want to keep her at the club.
"If she does want to go to someone else in the WSL, I hope she goes to that team and sticks two fingers up at Arsenal and scores a few goals and celebrates hard. It's just outrageous. She is not going to be short of offers."
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