Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill praises the ‘real quality’ of Jamie Donley

By Ian Parker, PA

Michael O’Neill hailed Jamie Donley’s “real quality” after the 20-year-old’s first international goal gave Northern Ireland a 1-0 win over Luxembourg in their final World Cup Group A qualifier.

Donley scored from the penalty spot in the 44th minute after Christopher Martins was punished for catching Ciaron Brown, and the on-loan Stoke forward had already seen one strike ruled out before then with Ethan Galbraith offside in the build-up.

In a much-changed Northern Ireland line-up, Donley’s performance was a bright spot on a drab night at Windsor Park, where it was obvious little was riding on the game – the prospect of a top-two finish gone but a play-off place secured all the same.

“Jamie’s a real player, real quality,” O’Neill said. “I wanted to see him as a nine. There’s no secret the nine is a problem position for us and I think Jamie has different attributes from some of the other strikers.

“I thought he did really well in the game. He’s clever, his link-up play is good. He took the penalty well and you saw the finish for the goal that was disallowed. Ethan was offside, but you saw the quality that Jamie displayed in that moment.”

Donley caught the eye while at Leyton Orient last season, but this campaign has been more difficult with limited game time at Stoke, where he has made only six appearances so far.

“He’s unfortunate that the loan he’s on at the minute from Spurs to Stoke is not going as he would have planned and he’s not been given many opportunities, but hopefully that situation resolves itself in January,” O’Neill added.

“He’s a really high technical level of player, a great left foot, real awareness and great vision, just a really good footballer – simple as that. I watched him at Orient last year in many games and thought he was the best player on the pitch…

“He’s 20 years of age and he’s got a lot ahead of him.”

It was a subdued night at Windsor Park after hopes of a second-placed finish in the group was ended by Friday’s 1-0 loss in Slovakia.

Despite a flat atmosphere, Northern Ireland got the job done to ensure they go into the play-off in March on the back of a win.

“We had to look at the game in its own right,” O’Neill said. “What happened the other night you have to put that behind you and we did that. The most important thing was to go and win the game.”

Among six changes to his team, O’Neill had left out Trai Hume, Justin Devenny, Josh Magennis and the injured Jamie Reid, who were all on a yellow card.

O’Neill admitted on Sunday he was not 100 per cent clear on whether those players risked a suspension for March if booked – having received no response to a request for clarification.

When the teamsheet was printed it indicated there was no risk of a ban for any of the players in the squad.

However, O’Neill took no interest in questions over whether he had been left to pick his team for a competitive game while unclear on the regulations.

He said: “It’s irrelevant to me now.”