Worthington wants fit first-teamers

Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington is calling on the majority of his players to try to get first-team football - even if it means moving clubs.

Worthington believes that is the only way the province will be able to move forward and is alarmed by the fact that up to 16 of his players are warming the bench or sitting in the stands on match day for their clubs.

As his team prepared to face the Czech Republic on Wednesday, he said: "To go and play our way at a high tempo with good quality, some of our players can't do that in two games in four days."

He added: "That's been most evident on the couple of occasions where we've had double-headers. In the first game the performance level would be very good, the energy levels were first class - and the next game, energy levels had dropped.

"I can do nothing about that, because players are tied to clubs and they come to the international set-up.

"My message to the players is that if you're not in your club teams, work hard to get in it or get yourself out.

"It doesn't only affect them as the individual; it affects us as an international team, and that's something that's been ongoing in the campaign.

"You can live with three or four floating around outside the first teams at their clubs. But you can't have 15 or 16 - that's a huge amount, it really is."