O’Neill hoping to learn ahead of Euro 2016

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill is hoping that his side’s upcoming friendlies will help them adapt in time before they head to France for the European Championship.

O’Neill’s men grabbed the headlines for all the right reasons during qualifying, with striker Kyle Lafferty leading his team to France with some fine solo performances.

After returning to their domestic career, the Northern Ireland squad are now back together as they prepare for this summer’s tournament.

They take on Belarus next Friday and O’Neill named his squad on Wednesday as players get their last chance to impress him.

The likes of Will Grigg, Liam Boyce, Daniel Lafferty, Michael Smith and Luke McCullough will all be pushing for a spot in the 23-man squad. With plenty of places still up for grabs, O’Neill has now challenged his team to impress in their upcoming friendlies against Belarus and then Slovakia on June 4.

He told the Belfast Telegraph: “We will use the Belarus game to look at our options, our systems and how we play. “It’s also a chance to look at personnel and to give players opportunities.

We are on a good run at the minute and we want to continue that run. “It is important that we approach the match in the same way as we have approached all our other games since qualification. The Belarus and Slovakia games will both be very important.

They will both be good tests for us, particularly the game in Slovakia. “They are what we need because when we come to the tournament we are going to have to reach very high levels, possibly levels that we have never reached before.”

Northern Ireland have been drawn against Germany, Ukraine and Poland in Group C and they are available at odds of 3.50 to qualify for the knockout stages.