Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill is considering changes to his starting line-up for tonight’s European championship qualifier against Greece, despite Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Faroes.
West Brom’s Gareth McAuley is hoping to win his 50th cap in Athens tonight but has been struggling for fitness, having collided with a post against the islanders.
Blackburn midfielder Corry Evans is in line for a recall in place of the more attack-minded Niall McGinn, who has been in fine form for Aberdeen this season.
O’Neill is not getting carried away by the prospect of making history in Greece but is quietly confident his players can achieve their Euro 2016 ambition.
O’Neill has led the team to successive victories over Hungary and the Faroe Islands, leaving them in the unexpected position of topping Group F.
It is the first time since 1968 that Northern Ireland have won their first two qualifiers but none of O’Neill’s predecessors have gone one better than that.
In order to do that tonight he must plot a course past Greece, who remain favourites to reach the finals in Paris despite collecting just one point thus far.
O’Neill is staying focused on continuing the feel-good factor and achieving a top-three finish.
“There’s a million stats out there but they’re not a concern to us at all,” he said. “It’s about the 90 minutes, taking something from the game, all of the other stuff is totally irrelevant to me.”