Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill not worried about a lack of internationals playing in the Premier League and believes he can get Conor Bradley and Trai Hume selected in the same starting eleven

With Jonny Evans and Stuart Dallas suffering relegation into the Championship with Leicester City and Leeds United respectively, the numbers have shrunk even further.

However, O’Neill believes the lack of patience and the demand of instant success in the Premier League makes it harder for players to break into first-team squads at the highest level.

“I realise as the Premier League continues to go in the direction it goes that we will always have limited numbers of players,” he said.

“When I came into the job initially in 2012, that’s when we had most of our players playing in the Premier League, we may have had as many as six or seven at that moment in time.

“But it was also at a time at international level where we weren’t doing particularly well.

“Going forward we will predominantly be a team that is made up of players from the Championship, some League One but hopefully some Premier League players as well.

“That’s something we have to accept.

“It’s very difficult for our lads, even the younger lads we’ve had here this week who are at Premier League clubs, that pathway to break in there’s no patience for it.

“You get nothing for being a Premier League manager and saying ‘I’ve developed three players’, you typically lose your job and you’ve seen how many managerial changes there have been this year in the Premier League and Championship.

“I think the big thing for these players is what pathway they will take.

“I would love to be going to Premier League games every week but I’m not.

“I’m going to Championship, League One, League Two, Scottish Premier and U21 games in England.

“I’ve gone to see Isaac Price and Shea Charles play in their U21 games and that’s where we are at this minute with the resources that we have.”

One highlight from the last international break were the performances of Liverpool full-back Conor Bradley, who spent the season on loan at Bolton Wanderers.

He is set to battle it out with Trai Hume for a starting spot in the upcoming games against Denmark and Kazakhstan as the former Linfield ace starred for Sunderland as the Black Cats lost out in the Championship play-offs.

However, O’Neill remarked that he can fit the pair into the same team despite both naturally playing at right-back as Hume featured for his club as a centre-back in the play-off semi-final against Luton Town.

“They both play in slightly different positions for their club,” he stated.

“Trai is a right-back and that’s where he predominantly played for Sunderland but he was asked to play centre-back in the Play-Offs and I saw him play there against Luton and I thought he did very well in the game.

“Conor’s playing as a wing-back so it depends on the system that we play.

“We feel that one of our main challenges at the minute is we are lacking wide players who are playing regularly at a high level.

“We have good centre halves playing and playing at a good level, so when we went three at the back and the system that we played, it lent itself to using wing backs which Conor has been playing week in and week out.

“I thought he was more suited for the game than Trai but as I said to Trai, he will play an awful lot for Northern Ireland over the years because he’s come in and how he’s handled the situation at Sunderland has been terrific.

“He’s played a number of positions but to not only make the breakthrough, he looks established and a real leader in that team with how he plays.

“We will see what solutions there are to have the strongest team on the pitch as we can.

“It would be nice to see young players like that in the team but we have to look at the challenge in terms of the opposition and what we feel we need for each individual game.”

When asked if League One was a cut off point for selecting players into the international squad, O’Neill agreed and argued there is a gap between the third tier and League Two.

“I think there is a difference between League Two and League One, there is a gap there and the gap is bigger between League One and the Championship,” he continued.

“Although, what we see in League One is that there are a lot of big clubs, the likes of Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County.

“I would never say I’d never pick a League Two but I do feel it’s probably a level where the lads have to get out of it.

“Paul Smyth is a good example as he’s had a good season at Leyton Orient, they’ve got promoted, so the real challenge for Paul and his club will be seeing how they do in League One.

“That will give us a better look at whether that player is capable of coming in and having an impact at international level.

“League One is a good place for loans; you see that with the likes of Conor Bradley, it’s also a good starting point for players coming across and you see that with Eoin Toal at Bolton.

“We have to try and pick players who are playing regularly at as high a level as possible.”