‘Everyone is looking’ – Why Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper was handed big international call

Charles, who made his professional Owls debut in the FA Cup earlier this year, was handed his first senior call-up at international level recently, with the teenager heading away to Mallorca and Murcia to face Spain and Andorra in friendly encounters next month.

The 18-year-old has represented the Northern Irish at various youth levels over the years, but he’ll be hoping to get his chance to test himself with the seniors in a couple of weeks’ time – and the NI boss believes that he deserves the opportunity.

"We've known about Pierce for quite a while,” O’Neill told the media. “He played for the 21s out in Serbia and put in a great performance. It was a great result for Tommy (Wright, U21 manager) to win away in Serbia against a strong Serbian team and an older Serbian team than what we had on the night.

"Pierce is one of those goalkeepers that everyone is looking for in the modern game. He's got great distribution, real composure with the ball at his feet and we know at Sheffield Wednesday they really regard him highly.

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"I think with Luke Southwood having an injury, the balance of the keepers, I don't really think there's any benefit to bringing an older goalkeeper into that situation. Stephen or Pierce, and Stephen McMullan has been in before so it's nice to give Pierce the opportunity and his performance in Serbia was a big part of that."

Charles recently signed a new deal to keep him at Hillsborough beyond the end of his previous contract that ended in 2025, and he is highly rated by Danny Röhl and the academy staff at Middlewood Road.