Paddy McNair might just have earned himself a key role in Northern Ireland’s midfield following an outstanding performance in Thursday night’s friendly draw with Wales.
An injury crisis that saw Chris Brunt, Chris Baird and Corry Evans sidelined meant manager Martin O’Neill used McNair in a holding berth behind skipper Steven Davis and Oliver Norwood.
The 20-year-old’s performance was one of the highlights of a 1-1 draw in Cardiff that extended their unbeaten run to nine games.
As well as looking after his primary duties, he had a part to play in the goal that saw the visitors go ahead on the hour mark through Craig Cathcart's finish on the turn.
Five of McNair's nine outings for his club this term have been from the bench and United boss Louis van Gaal has typically selected him in defence, but O'Neill insists he is better placed working in front of the last line.
"I was really pleased with him," the Northern Ireland manager said.
"He's just 20, not played a lot of first-team football with Manchester United and typically when he plays for Manchester United he plays at centre-back or sometimes as a full-back but I think that's his best position, where we played him.
"He was a physical presence but he showed his quality on the ball. He just needs to get used to playing at this level. I enjoyed him in there in that midfield with Davis and Norwood.
"It was encouraging to see him play as well as he did for as long as he did. If you look at Paddy's games in recent weeks, they would have been development games for Manchester United, it's a huge step up and I thought he handled it very well."
McNair's midfield audition was just one of the experiments O'Neill conducted in the first of four Euro 2016 warm-up friendlies prior to the main event in France this summer.
Kent-born Conor Washington earned his first international cap alongside Kyle Lafferty in attack having scored 15 times in 31 appearances for Peterborough earlier in the campaign prior to joining Championship club QPR.
"He's got pace and is powerful and he doesn't given defenders a minute, which we need." - Michael O'Neill
And while he was taken off at half-time after enduring a frustrating opening 45 minutes in international football, O'Neill is confident Washington's mentality fits in with his current group.
"He's got nothing to be disappointed about in terms of his performance," O'Neill added.
"He worked hard, was up against a top-class centre-back in Ashley Williams and he will get more opportunities before the summer.
"He's got pace and is powerful and he doesn't given defenders a minute, which we need.
"Our strength is in our collective work-rate and that comes from our midfield three. Conor fits into that mould of a player.
“He has the attributes to fit in and be a Northern Ireland player because of his desire to play, his energy, his work-rate and, as we've seen in club football, he's capable of scoring."
