Watch Romania vs Northern Ireland live on Sky Sports Football from 7.30pm on Friday; Northern Ireland vs Norway on Monday is also live on Sky
Thursday 3 September 2020 22:09, UK
Jonny Evans will miss Northern Ireland's Nations League game with Romania after not travelling with the rest of the squad.
The side flew out to Bucharest on Thursday afternoon ahead of Ian Baraclough's first game in charge since he succeeded Michael O'Neill in April.
But the Leicester defender was not in the travelling party due to "personal reasons" with Baraclough remaining hopeful he would be back for Monday's home game against Norway.
It is another defensive blow for Northern Ireland, who are already without Sunderland defender Tom Flanagan.
Flanagan withdrew last week as his wife is due to give birth, with Arsenal's 20-year-old defender Daniel Ballard called up in his place.
Ballard, who played for the Under-21s under Baraclough, was called up by O'Neill for last year's Euro 2020 qualifiers against Estonia and Belarus but is yet to make his senior debut.
"Defensively, we've got Dan Ballard, Conor McLoughlin, Michael Smith, Craig (Cathcart) is there as well as Stuart Dallas, Jamal Lewis and Fergs (Shane Ferguson)," Baraclough said.
"We've got many good defenders and we've got to make sure that we're ready to lose anybody if people drop out of the squad. If there are injuries, we need players to come in."
Daniel Ballard - The uncapped Arsenal defender is suddenly the most natural replacement for Evans after the withdrawal of Tom Flanagan. As the previous U21 boss Baraclough knows all about the 20-year-old, who recently featured for Mikel Arteta's side in a friendly at MK Dons.
Paddy McNair - McNair was viewed by Louis van Gaal as a centre back at Manchester United but his preferred position is in midfield. He has been part of a defence at Middlesbrough in recent times, but three goals in his last four away games for Northern Ireland would mean his threat at the other end of the pitch would be badly missed.
Michael Smith - The Hearts full-back has also covered at centre-half and his versatility will no doubt be considered by Baraclough. Scored a stunning long-range effort in Northern Ireland's last outing in November against Germany
Conor McLaughlin - An experienced player at international level, he has been in and out of Michael O'Neill's starting lineup over the years but usually at full-back. Like Smith, he has previously covered as a centre-back but mostly in a back three
You will be able to watch all 162 Nations League matches live on Sky Sports - plus the semi-finals, third-place play-off and final. Games will be shown across our main channels and via the red button.
Our coverage kicks off on Thursday, with Finland v Wales live on Sky Sports Main Event and Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland on Sky Sports Football. Wales v Bulgaria and Republic of Ireland v Finland on Monday will be shown on both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.
Scotland's opener against Israel on Friday is on Sky Sports Main Event on Friday, along with Romania v Northern Ireland on Sky Sports Football. Czech Republic v Scotland and Northern Ireland v Norway will be shown on Tuesday.
You can watch Iceland v England on Sky Sports Main Event and Football on Sunday, and Denmark v England on the same channels on Wednesday.
If you're out and about, you can follow all of those Home Nations games on the Sky Sports website and app, where we'll have minute-by-minute updates and show you the goals as they go in.
We'll also have highlights of every game involving the Home Nations and the best of the other Nations League fixtures available too.
