Sunderland and Liverpool stars miss out on captaincy as Sheff Wed midfielder benefits from 'easy' decision
Two Sunderland stars are set to feature for Northern Ireland as they round off the Nations League campaign over the coming days.
Sunderland star Trai Hume has missed out on captaining Northern Ireland for a third time after Michael O’Neill confirmed Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Shea Charles will lead out his side in Friday’s Nations League clash with Belarus.
Hume only made his senior debut in a 1-0 home defeat against Hungary just over two years ago but has since established himself as an integral part of O’Neill’s squad. On the back of consistently impressive performances for the Black Cats, the former Linfield full-back was handed the captaincy for the first time in September as his side claimed a 2-0 win against Luxembourg before retaining the armband for a 1-0 defeat in Bulgaria just days later. Liverpool defender Conor Bradley took over the captaincy for meetings with Belarus and Bulgaria last month and O’Neill has now confirmed he has taken the ‘easy decision’ to pass it on to Charles.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s meeting with Belarus, O’Neill said: “For me it was an easy decision. Shea is a player who since we put him in the team has taken an enormous amount of responsibility on the pitch for such a young player so putting an armband on him doesn’t change that. “I think Shea has the attributes to play at the highest level of the game. He also has the temperament to play at the highest level and that’s what you are looking for as a captain. Whether Shea has the armband or not he is always going to be one of your leaders on the pitch. He deserves this opportunity.”
Charles, who has made 12 starts for Wednesday after joining Sunderland’s Championship rivals on loan from Southampton in August, stressed his determination to ‘lead by example’ as he leads his country out for the first time at Windsor Park on Friday night.
“It came as a bit of surprise with Conor and Trai being captain in the last two camps. I’m just looking forward to leading the team out. I just want to lead by example on and off the pitch. Hopefully if I play well I can help others with me and keep the team together.”