International Football: Injury-free Irish plan rude awakening for Liechtenstein

UNLIKE the other British international managers, Bryan Hamilton has no injury worries for his second game in charge of Northern Ireland, against Liechtenstein in a European Championship qualifier here tonight, writes Rupert Metcalf from Belfast.

With Sunderland's Phil Gray recovering from a knock sustained last weekend, Hamilton has a full squad to choose from. Steve Morrow, the Arsenal full-back, scored his first goal for his country in last month's impressive 2-0 friendly win over Romania, but he is likely to lose his place to the more experienced Sheffield Wednesday player, Nigel Worthington, a regular under Hamilton's long-serving predecessor, Billy Bingham.

Hamilton knows that his side are expected to score plenty of goals against the tiny Alpine country playing their first competitive international, but he is taking nothing for granted.

'Losing doesn't enter my thinking,' said Hamilton, who will name his team at noon today, 'but it won't be easy. We must not make any mistakes. We all remember how England started in San Marino. The first goal will be the hardest but, once we get that, we should get a few more.'