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Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill understands the excitement around teenage striker Callum Marshall but is eager not to put pressure on the West Ham prospect. Marshall is expected to feature in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against San Marino after returning to O’Neill’s squad this month, and fans are keen to get another glimpse of a player who has already drawn comparisons to Northern Ireland’s record goalscorer David Healy. Marshall was denied a dream international debut in June when his late equaliser against Denmark in Copenhagen was ruled out by the VAR for offside, but the 18-year-old will hope for another opportunity against San Marino and in Tuesday’s match against Slovenia. “I don’t want to put any added pressure on a young lad who is 18,” O’Neill said. “He’s shown a huge amount of promise. We probably skew that because of the moment in Copenhagen but that was only a moment. “I can’t think back to when we’ve had a young striker – they generally come in later…A young striker coming in always excites people. “Like every country, you want somebody at the top end of the pitch who can be a natural goalscorer, and without putting any burden on Callum, he has the potential and has shown the potential certainly since we’ve had him in. We’ve seen that he has the attributes. “But he’s only starting on his journey in the game. The signs are very positive and if he has the opportunity to play from the start or play some part of the game, I know he’ll approach it in the right way.” Marshall is yet another young face in a Northern Ireland squad robbed of experience by injuries, a significant factor in a qualifying campaign that has unravelled since the opening win in San Marino in March with five straight defeats. “It’s having that resilience which I think you build over time,” O’Neill said. “This team doesn’t have resilience yet because the players haven’t played enough, they’ve not played through the experience that Jonny (Evans) played through and Steven Davis played through. “That’s how you build it. That’s where you get it. We have too many players still in single figures in caps to have that resilience. That’s what they will learn when they step forward into the next phase of their international career, that the expectations will be there for us as a team to do better.” Evans echoed that view. The Manchester United defender made his international debut in Northern Ireland’s famous 3-2 win over Spain in 2009, and has seen both the highs and the lows since. “My international career got off to a good start and then had a bit of dip but you always find that, nothing is constant,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to handle that. It wasn’t until I was 27 or 28 that Euro qualification came around. It’s a long time but you’ve got to keep learning.” With Euro 2028 hosting rights having been awarded to the United Kingdom and Ireland this week, there is now the hope of Northern Ireland getting to play at another European finals, and to do so on home soil. However, O’Neill said that tournament is not on his radar yet. “The most important thing is to continue to work with this group of players,” he said. “It needs a lot of work. “There’s been a lot of talk about this campaign having not been what we hoped and being disappointing and yes, it has been, but we have to be realistic: this group of players is not ready to qualify for a major tournament. “Seven of them are under 21. Fourteen of them are three, four, five caps. We need to grow this group of players into a group ready for the next campaign.” Read More Matt Peet admits leading Wigan out in a Grand Final ‘does seem bizarre’ No sweat: England great Sir Alastair Cook was always cool in the heat of battle Sir Alastair Cook’s record-breaking career in pictures Dan Biggar determined Wales career will not end after Argentina quarter-final It’s the right time: Ex-England captain Sir Alastair Cook announces retirement Talking points as Ireland look to break World Cup curse against All Blacks

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Beth Mead looks likely to make her long-awaited return to Arsenal’s matchday squad when the Gunners host Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday, boss Jonas Eidevall confirmed. The England forward, who won the Golden Boot in the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 triumph, has not played for club or country since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) late last November. Mead faces one final training session before her fitness for Arsenal’s third meeting of the new Women’s Super League season is confirmed, but the 28-year-old’s manager was feeling optimistic after seeing her put through her paces on Friday morning. Eidevall said: “In order to, for squad selection, we have one more training to go. If she goes through that training she should be 100 per cent ready for squad selection. “She has a lovely energy, she plays the game with both her right and left foot with really good attacking qualities too. We all know that Beth Mead is a quality football player, so of course we are really looking forward to having her back on the pitch again.” Mead, whose injury ruled her out of this summer’s World Cup, was one of four of Eidevall’s players to sustain an ACL problem last season, drawing further attention to what many feel is a crisis facing women’s football, where the issue is alarmingly common. Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema joined the ‘ACL club’ a month after her team-mate and partner Mead but is also edging close to a comeback, said Eidevall, while Leah Williamson, who captained England to the European trophy, will not feature until after Christmas at the earliest. Defender Laura Wienroither ruptured her ACL in May, while fellow defender Teyah Goldie became the fifth victim when she suffered the same issue in August. Eidevall said: “Viv has returned to team training, which is really nice, so obviously the next thing from team training is to start playing in games, if that’s friendly games or internal games behind closed doors and so on. “That’s the next step, and from there on obviously you’re not miles away from being able to be selected to be in the squad, so she’s definitely getting close.” While the unfortunate quintuplet of team-mates have been able to support each other through the long recovery process, Eidevall and his staff do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. He added: “Unfortunately we have a group of players that went through the same thing. I think, though, at the end of the day you need to deal with your things yourself, because even if it looks on paper that you have the same injury, it’s never exactly the same. “There are always differences. There can be similarities and yes you can help, but at the end of the day everything is going to be unique to you as an individual. I try to be very mindful of treating people with similar injuries like a package.” Read More Dan Biggar determined Wales career will not end after Argentina quarter-final It’s the right time: Ex-England captain Sir Alastair Cook announces retirement Talking points as Ireland look to break World Cup curse against All Blacks Rabbi on FA faith group resigns over governing body’s response to Hamas attacks ‘Doing it for Johnny’ adds to Ireland’s Rugby World Cup motivation Warren Gatland: It would be ‘huge achievement’ if Wales can reach semi-finals

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