Roy Millar has defended Northern Ireland Under-21s' poor European Championship campaign, claiming the real measure of success is the number of his players in the senior squad. Northern Ireland finished fifth in Group Three with a disappointing eight points from their 10 games following their 2-2 draw against Malta in the Ta'Qali national stadium.
However, Millar claims the main purpose of his Under-21 side is to groom players for Sammy McIlroy's senior squad and by this yardstick the team has been a success. Ten of McIlroy's squad for tonight's World Cup game against Malta have played for the Under-21s in the last couple of years, while six are still eligible.
"Why we have the Under-21s is to produce George McCartney and people like that," said Millar. "There are six Under-21s in the senior squad, which is very positive. That's what the job is now, to take these kids through from the Under-18s to the Under-21s and then put them into the senior squad."
Millar claims his results would have been better if he had been able to keep all his players, but he accepts the whole point of the team is to nurture talent for McIlroy.
"Obviously if I had put out a full Under-21 side all the time we would have finished much higher up the table," he said. "But it's the performances which are more important than the results. If you put David Healy and Aaron Hughes in the Under-21s not only would you have got good performances, but good results. We are a production line and I accept that. If Sammy says to me, like he did in this game, take two of the boys off after an hour because he wants them for the seniors, then you do it because the senior side is the most important."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
