GARETH McAULEY is among a trio of Rangers stars to be named in Michael O’Neill’s latest Northern Ireland squad – despite not featuring for the Glasgow giants since January 30.
The 39-year-old’s last outing in light blue came in a 3-1 Scottish Cup victory at Cowdenbeath as he continues to battle a persistent calf injury.
Nevertheless, he has been selected alongside Gers team-mates Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Estonia and Belarus.
The Ibrox contingent head seven-strong selection of SPFL stars in the 27-man group.
Another 39-year-old, Aaron Hughes, has received a call-up despite his last Jambos outing coming in December when he was run ragged in a 5-0 defeat at Livingston.
Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard, currently on loan at Partick Thistle, Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn and Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones, who will join Rangers in the summer, have also secured spots.
O’Neill said: “We are starting with the two best fixtures we could get and it gives us the opportunity to get momentum, to get points on the board. We need to do that.
“It won’t be a case of sailing through the two games – it won’t be a formality. We have played at home against teams like San Marino, Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands, we’ve had to be at our best. We had to play at a high level to win those games at it will be no different this time.”
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