Alan Mannus is pushing hard to be Northern Ireland’s first choice goalkeeper according to his club manager, Tommy Wright.
Former Manchester United man Roy Carroll is currently in possession of the gloves but, at 37, is nearing the end of his career.
Mannus has been outstanding for Saints over the last couple of seasons and Wright – himself a Northern Ireland keeper of many years – believes the gap between the two is a close one.
And he’d be thrilled for his own player if he gets game-time in this evening’s friendly against Scotland.
“Alan is in tremendous form so he might get a chance against Scotland,” Wright said.
“I don’t know what Michael will do, and it’s not my place to tell him, but Alan is doing really well.
“Roy Carroll is the man in possession of the jersey at the moment but he can’t go on forever.
“So Alan will get his chance eventually.
“Roy (who now plays for Notts County) has rejuvenated his international career in the last few years and you have to give credit to him for that.”
Wright was Michael O’Neill’s number two before he got the Saints job, so is well-placed to give an assessment on his country’s resurgence that has taken them to the brink of qualification for Euro 2016, as well as their prospects against Gordon Strachan’s side.
“Although the results were not what they wanted them to be, you could see the progress the team was making under Michael in the last campaign,” he explained..
“He could see it too and that’s what kept him going.
“The players were getting to know each other, they were getting used to the ideas he’s got about the game and learning about how he wants them to play.
“So how well they are doing now has been the result of a gradual thing, it’s not just happened by accident.
“Michael was never under pressure from the board, because they could see what he was trying to do, but results were not great.
“We all know it’s a resultsdriven business, so it was a tough time for him in the last campaign.
“But away from the results, people could see that he’s embraced the whole job and was changing loads of things for the better.
“It’s being seen in the first team now, though, everyone is used to playing his system.
“And a big thing is that hardly anyone pulls out of squads now that’s always a good sign.
“The players are on board with what he’s doing and they’re getting results, so everyone is desperate to be involved.
“The patience has been rewarded.”
As with Scotland in their barren years, one-off headline-grabbing results haven’t been a problem for Northern Ireland. Consistency has been a different matter, though.
Wright noted: “We have always been hampered by results against countries people think we should beat.
“We’ve beaten Spain and England before, then lost against the smaller teams.
“Over the years, Northern Ireland have had some remarkably good results and some really bad ones.
“This campaign is going really well and there’s no reason we can’t qualify.
“Obviously Michael doesn’t have masses of players to choose from, some weeks I speak to him and maybe on 7 or 8 of his players are starting matches.
“But what he’s done really well is get a good group of players and improve them.
“They’re well organised, hard to beat and they have been scoring goals that’s the ingredient for any successful team.
“There is a great opportunity there for at least a play-off place, but I think automatic qualification is achievable.”
On tonight’s match, Wright commented: “Northern Ireland will be well organised and confident because we’re on a great run of form.
“Michael has done a tremendous job and there are similarities with Scotland.
“We are on a high at the moment and having the Scotland game is ideal before playing Finland.
“There are a few Scottish-based players in the squad, so it will be tough, hard fought and a good test for both teams.
“It’s good preparation for both teams.”