Aaron Hughes, Paddy McNair and Jamie Ward named in Northern Ireland squad

 

Sunderland midfielder Paddy McNair is in the Northern Ireland squad for the World Cup play-off with Switzerland, despite only returning from an 11-month injury lay-off on Saturday.

The 22-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last November and made his senior comeback at the weekend with an 11-minute cameo off the bench in the Black Cats' 2-1 loss to Bristol City.
Yet, for an all-or-nothing tie against the Swiss to determine if the Northern Irish will be at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, international manager Michael O'Neill has named McNair as one of his 27 players for the two legs next month.