Skip to content

Worthy calls up replacements

Image: Worthington: Calls up Little and Carson due to injuries and suspensions

Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has called up Andrew Little and Josh Carson due to injuries and suspensions.

Little and Carson win Northern Ireland call-ups to face Estonia

Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has called up Andrew Little and Josh Carson from the Under 21s due to injuries and suspensions. Ipswich midfielder Carson and utility man Little, on loan at Port Vale from Rangers, will bolster the squad for their Euro 2012 qualifying trip to face Estonia on Tuesday after four first-teamers were ruled out. Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty and Celtic playmaker Paddy McCourt both lost battles against calf problems to miss Friday night's 1-0 home defeat against Serbia and will not travel to Tallinn, while the Evans brothers, Jonny and Corry, are now both suspended. With midfielder Sammy Clingan also missing the match with illness, Worthington added the Under-21 pair to his party after they returned from their own 1-0 reverse against Serbia in Belgrade. Worthington saw his side slip to fifth in Group C courtesy of Marko Pantelic's winner for Serbia while Estonia's surprise away win at Slovenia also saw them leapfrog Northern Ireland too, leaving Worthington's men distant outsiders in the battle for second place.

Difficult

Despite the odds being stacked against his side, the ex-Norwich City manager refuses to give up the fight just yet. "Of course it's difficult, but when you're in football you have to be positive," commented Worthington. "If you're not there's no point carrying on. "We have three games to go, we have to get the players back up and ready to run. We'll have a real good go on Tuesday."

Around Sky