Michael Hughes has been selected to captain Northern Ireland in the World Cup 2002 qualifier against Bulgaria at Windsor Park on Saturday. Sammy McIlroy has been forced to turn his attentions to Hughes as regular skippers Steve Lomas, Jim Magilton and Gerry Taggart are all injured. The Wimbledon midfielder last captained the Irish in a Euro 2000 qualifer against Germany in 1999.
Meanwhile, further injury worries plague McIlroy after Preston pair David Healy and Colin Murdock both sat out training today. Healy is suffering with a calf injury while Murdock has strained a stomach muscle. However, McIlroy is confident that the two will start against Bulgaria.
"David took a little bit of a knock on his calf and Colin has a stomach strain. But there's no real problem and they should be all right for Saturday," he said.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
