Ceadach O'Neill Ruled Out of Northern Ireland Squad With Injury

Arsenal forward Ceadach O'Neill has withdrawn from the Northern Ireland squad for their Nations League games against Ukraine and Hungary because of injury, the BBC reports.

The 18-year-old won his first senior cap against Guinea in June and has four caps in total. He came off the bench late in Northern Ireland's Nations League wins over Georgia and Ukraine in the last international window. He also started for Arsenal in the Carabao Cup last-16 tie against Fleetwood Town, which Arsenal lost on penalties, and that match was his first senior appearance for the club.

He is not the only absentee. Dan Ballard, Eoin Toal, Ali McCann and Jamie McDonnell are also ruled out through injury. Liverpool's Conor Bradley remains a long-term absence and has not played since January.

Manager Michael O'Neill has turned to fresh faces. Manchester United goalkeeper Dermot Mee and Portsmouth forward Eoin Kenny have both received their first Northern Ireland call-ups for the two games.

The Nations League is a competition between European national teams, split into leagues and groups. Northern Ireland are in Group B for the first time, after winning promotion from Group C in the previous edition. They sit top of League B2 with eight points from four matches and have not lost yet. They are also the only team in the whole competition this year yet to concede a goal.

Topping the group would bring promotion to League A, the top tier. It would also all but guarantee a play-off place for Euro 2028, the European Championship finals. A play-off is a knockout match that a team must win to reach the finals.

The first of the two games is at Windsor Park in Belfast against Ukraine on 14 November, kick-off 19:45 GMT. Northern Ireland then travel to Budapest to face Hungary on 17 November. Both matches will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

For the squad, the injuries are a test of depth. Five names are missing before a ball has been kicked in these games, so the new players will get their chance to show what they can do. Northern Ireland have already shown they can grind out results without conceding. Their next two matches will show whether that defensive record can survive a changed team.