Conor Bradley: Injured Liverpool and Northern Ireland defender ‘making progress’

O’Neill was speaking to the media after announcing his squad for the June friendlies against Guinea and France.

Northern Ireland will be without key players such as Bradley, Sunderland defender Dan Ballard, Portsmouth’s Terry Devlin and Paddy McNair, who helped Hull City to promotion to the Premier League.

The games come at the end of a tough season but O’Neill was thrilled by his players’ commitment.

“There is promise. I understand that at the end of a long season.

“In that situation players have personal goals.

“Steven Davis has 140 caps. So you only get it if you’re there. If you’re not there, you can’t add to your caps.

“The players know that, and with this group, we can rarely withdraw on the basis of ‘I’m tired’. The players who are missing have real injuries.”

O’Neill added that the bond between the Northern Ireland players meant the squad was “in a good place”.

“With this group, they enjoy being together, so they don’t see going on international duty as a chore.

“To be honest, it’s quite the opposite.

“Talking to a lot of players, I think they feel they like coming with their international team because they’re almost the same age as their club.

“I think we’re in a good place with it right now.”