Paul Smyth will miss Northern Ireland’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Germany.
Queens Park Rangers winger Smyth picked up an injury after scoring for QPR in their 3-1 EFL Championship win against Charlton Athletic at the weekend.
Also a major doubt is Kilmarnock midfielder and captain Brad Lyons who took a knock in Killie’s 2-2 draw with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.
Northern Ireland’s injury list has been growing over the past couple of weeks, with Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles, Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard and Oxford United defender Brodie Spencer all crocked in the opening weeks of the season.
Plymouth Argyle keeper Conor Hazard, Oxford United defender Ciaron Brown and Preston North End midfielder Jordan Thompson are also unavailable. They are all still recovering from injuries picked up at the tail end of last season.
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said: “Naturally we’re disappointed to have these injuries but we have a good, young, resilient squad and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves against good opposition this week.”
Northern Ireland will begin their FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign with a game against Luxembourg at Stade de Luxembourg on Thursday (4 September) at 7.45pm BST.
Their second game in Group A of the European qualifiers will see them take on Germany at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion in Koln (Cologne) on Sunday (7 September) at 7.45pm BST.
Both games are being shown live by BBC Sport - on television and online.
