'They're ready' - Sheffield Wednesday ace Kieran Morrison sent Shea Charles reminder by Northern Ireland boss
Sheffield Wednesday winger Kieran Morrison will be hoping to make his competitive debut for Northern Ireland against Georgia on Friday teatime.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill believes Sheffield Wednesday loanee Kieran Morrison and the other young members of his squad could benefit from featuring in the UEFA Nations League in the same way former Owls loanee Shea Charles did.
Morrison, who joined Wednesday on a season-long loan from Liverpool last month, is in contention to make his competitive debut for Northern Ireland on Friday evening after being included in O’Neill’s 28-man squad last week.
The winger made his debut for his country in June, starting in a 1-0 win over Guinea in an international friendly. He was also among the substitutes for a 3-1 defeat to France a few days later, meaning the next step in his international development is to feature in a competitive fixture.
Northern Ireland are competing in League B in this Nations League campaign after earning promotion from League C in the previous edition of the tournament. Promotion last time around means a sterner level of opposition in this campaign, with O’Neill’s side scheduled to face Georgia, Hungary and Ukraine.
The Green and White Army will face Georgia in their opening fixture on Friday evening in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Although Northern Ireland will want to perform well over the course of their six Nations League matches, they already have half an eye on their 2028 European Championship qualifying campaign, which is scheduled to start next March.
Ceadach O'Neill, 18, Braiden Graham, 18, and Morrison, 19, are three teenagers to have been included in boss O’Neill’s squad, and he believes the Nations League offers the ideal environment for the trio to develop ahead of qualifying for the European Championship getting underway.
As quoted by Belfast Live, O’Neill said: "The young players are here because they're ready to be here. They're also at big clubs and some are playing regular first team football, and for us to build a squad it is important for us to be able to do that. This competition is very good for that.
"At the end of this competition there is not a qualification. There's obviously a promotion or relegation which you deal with or you stay at the same level. For me this is the ideal tournament to bring young players into the group. We have done that before.
"The previous Nations League was big for the likes of Isaac (Price) and Shea and those players because they started to win games and they grew as a team. Now we can introduce some fresh faces but also develop and show we can play at this level.”
Charles, who excelled on loan at Hillsborough during the 2024/25 campaign, made his Northern Ireland debut in the Nations League in June 2022, and he has since established himself as a regular for his country, earning 35 caps to date.