Sheffield United’s left-wing-back Danny Lafferty has been called up to the Northern Ireland squad for his country’s upcoming fixture this week.
The 27-year-old made his senior debut against the Netherlands in 2012 and has gone on to accumulate a further 12 caps. The defender has been drafted into Michael O’Neill’s squad for Sunday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Norway.
However, Lafferty will now miss Sheffield United’s League One clash at Oldham Athletic on Saturday and manager Chris Wilder will have to assess his options to determine who will fill the left-wing-back role.
The boss told sufc.co.uk: “Obviously, we are disappointed that he will miss Saturday’s game but it is a great opportunity for him to stake a claim at international level once again.”
Lafferty has made an impressive 32 appearances for the Blades since initially joining the South Yorkshire club on loan in the summer and has become an important player in the starting XI. Joe Riley would have been the obvious replacement in Lafferty’s absence until the Manchester United youngster had to terminate his loan prematurely with injury.
Wilder now has a headache to solve in who to play at left-wing-back. Attacking players Matt Done and Jay O’Shea can both play in the position although left-back Chris Hussey, who has not featured since December’s FA Cup loss to Bolton Wanderers, could earn a recall to the match day squad.
The Blades travel to Oldham in their search for promotion this weekend after a 2-1 win against Charlton Athletic last week. The home side are fighting for survival and sit three points above the relegation zone.
Danny Lafferty will miss the fixture but will return in time for Tuesday’s game against Millwall. The defender could feature for Northern Ireland alongside ex-Blade Jamie Ward.
