Charles ruled out of Northern Ireland qualifiers

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles has been ruled out of Northern Ireland's opening two World Cup qualifiers.

Charles, 19, injured his shoulder in Wednesday's defeat by Stoke City in the Championship.

He had been named by manager Michael O'Neill in the initial squad on Thursday, but he has now been ruled out after further assessment.

Northern Ireland travel to Luxembourg in their opening qualifier on 4 September and take on Germany four days later.

Both games will be broadcast on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

"Unfortunately, we'll be without Pierce," Michael O'Neill told Sportsound on BBC Radio Ulster.

"We had a second opinion on his shoulder situation and he's definitely out."

Plymouth goalkeeper Conor Hazard is also absent through injury, and O'Neill admits Northern Ireland are "a bit stretched" in that position.

O'Neill said he would assess his goalkeeping options for the opening two qualifiers and a replacement for Charles would be named before the squad meet up on Sunday week.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell is an experienced option for O'Neill but had not been named in a squad since September 2024, and Luke Southwood has only won one international cap.

"We're stretched a bit in that situation," O'Neill added.

"Bailey is an experienced goalkeeper with 48 caps and playing on a regular basis with Blackpool, so you have to make the best of all situations."