Mee and Kenny get Northern Ireland call

Northern Ireland have reached the point in this Nations League campaign where depth matters as much as momentum, and Michael O'Neill has responded by giving first senior call-ups to goalkeeper Dermot Mee and forward Eoin Kenny for the final group matches against Ukraine and Hungary.

The timing is not decorative. Northern Ireland are unbeaten, top of League B2 and still chasing promotion to League A for the first time. They are also the only side left in the competition yet to concede a goal. That is the pleasant part. The other part is attrition.

Kenny comes in as Dion Charles, Eoin Toal and goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell drop out of the squad. Dan Ballard remains absent after the hamstring injury suffered in the win over Georgia in Tbilisi, while midfielders Ali McCann and Jamie McDonnell are also missing through injury. Conor Bradley, who has not played since January, is still unavailable.

So this squad is not merely a reward list for promising young players. It is a selection shaped by pressure at both ends: protect what has been built, and keep enough attacking threat to finish the job.

Mee, 23, arrives from Manchester United as a former Northern Ireland underage international. The BBC reports he has not played competitively for United this season, so his inclusion is less about current club minutes than about expanding O'Neill's options behind first-choice goalkeeper Pierce Charles. In a team whose clean-sheet run has become the foundation of the group position, that detail matters.

Kenny's call-up is slightly different in tone. The Portsmouth forward, 20, joined the Championship club from Dundalk in July and has made one league appearance. On the surface, that is a light club record for a senior international step. But O'Neill is not selecting in a calm moment. He is replacing absentees and trying to preserve attacking variety before two matches that will define whether Northern Ireland's strong autumn becomes promotion or just a respectable near miss.

There is also a broader pattern in the squad. Northern Ireland's recent results have come from a young side learning how to manage matches rather than merely survive them. The 3-0 win over Ukraine was one of the campaign's clearest statements, and the late winner in Georgia showed another useful trait: this group can stay in games long enough for one decisive moment to matter.

That is why the new names matter beyond novelty. International call-ups can be ceremonial when a campaign is drifting. These are not. Mee is entering a goalkeeper unit where one error could disturb the best defensive record in the tournament. Kenny is joining an attack that may need one finish, one run or one scrap won in the box to push Northern Ireland into the top tier and leave Euro 2028 qualification routes looking much healthier.

Northern Ireland face Ukraine at Windsor Park on 14 November before the final group match in Hungary on 17 November. O'Neill has not picked from comfort. He has picked for the strain of the closing miles.