Preview: Slovenia v Northern Ireland

by Setanta staff , 02 September 2010

Motherwell's Stephen Craigan will captain Northern Ireland in Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovenia.


The defender will win his 50th cap as Nigel Worthington's campaign begin their side with a very tough game against a team they have gotten very familiar with in recent years, and one who have beaten them at home in the last two qualifying campaigns.

The 33-year-old carries the armband even though Aaron Hughes will play after missing the Montenegro friendly with an injury, the Fulham man allowing his fellow back-liner to wear the armband on his special night.

There are no fresh injury worries for Worthington, though he was already without Celtic midfielder Niall McGinn and defender George McCartney of Sunderland because of injury, while Pat McCourt has been left out despite doing well for Celtic at the start of the season.

Blackpool's new defender Craig Cathcart, signed from Manchester United, will hope for a first cap after impressing so far in the Premier League, while Manchester United's Corry Evans will hope to play alongside his brother and club-mate Jonny in what would be a competitive debut.

Schoolboy Jonny Gorman of Wolves remains in the squad after being in the squad for Montenegro.

Slovenia go into the game after the heartbreak of missing out on qualifying for the knockout stages at the World Cup, in which they beat Algeria and drew with USA before a loss to England.

They showed in South Africa that they have several dangerous players and could make things very tough for Worthington's side.

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Pos
Team P W D L +/- PTS
1.
Man City
25
19
3
3
45
60
2.
Man Utd
25
18
4
3
36
58
3.
Tottenham
25
16
5
4
24
53
4.
Arsenal
25
13
4
8
13
43
5.
Chelsea
25
12
7
6
13
43
6.
Newcastle
25
12
6
7
0
42
7.
Liverpool
25
10
9
6
6
39
8.
Norwich
25
9
8
8
-4
35
9.
Sunderland
25
9
6
10
8
33
10.
Everton
25
9
6
10
-1
33
11.
Swansea
25
7
9
9
-4
30
12.
Fulham
25
7
9
9
-5
30
13.
Stoke
25
8
6
11
-14
30
14.
West Brom
25
8
5
12
-6
29
15.
Aston Villa
25
6
10
9
-5
28
16.
QPR
25
5
6
14
-17
21
17.
Blackburn
25
5
6
14
-19
21
18.
Wolverhampton
25
5
6
14
-21
21
19.
Bolton
25
6
2
17
-22
20
20.
Wigan
25
4
7
14
-27
19
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