Trai Hume and Paddy Lane have been handed maiden call-ups for Northern Ireland squad for friendlies against Luxembourg and Hungary in March 2022.
Hume’s call-up comes after a series of impressive performances at Sunderland’s youth levels, despite making only two first-team senior appearances for the Black Cats as he replaces Leicester’s Jonny Evans who is out with a thigh injury.
Paddy McNair meanwhile dropped from midfield into defence to replace Newcastle United’s Jamal Lewis, who is also absent as he recovers from a groin injury.
Jordan Jones and Ethan Galbraith meanwhile have been dropped in midfield as Paddy Lane graduates from the Under-21s squad, following a series of impressive performances for Fleetwood Town.
Matthew Kennedy and Liam Donnelly meanwhile have been both recalled following various lengths of absences from the squad, through a mixture of injury and squad selection decisions.
Up front, Baraclough has dropped Connor Washington and Dale Taylor as Dion Charles and Shayne Lavery both receive recalls in his striker selection, after being dropped from November’s squad although Lavery’s absence was due to a hamstring injury unlike Charles.
Baraclough has meanwhile retained his goalkeeping trio of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Luke Southwood and Conor Hazard, who were all called up for November’s international fixtures.
Northern Ireland will play Luxembourg away on Friday 25 March in a 7:15pm GMT kick-off before hosting Hungary four days later on Tuesday 29 March at Windsor Park in a 7:45pm GMT kick-off.
Here is the 25-man squad in full.
Goalkeepers: Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Sheffield Wednesday – loan from Burnley), Luke Southwood (Reading), Conor Hazard (HJK Helsinki – loan from Celtic)
Defence: Daniel Ballard (Millwall, loan from Arsenal), Ciaron Brown (Cardiff City), Craig Cathcart (Watford), Tom Flanagan (Sunderland), Shane Ferguson (Rotherham United), Conor Bradley (Liverpool), Paddy McNair (Middlesbrough), Trai Hume (Sunderland)
Midfield: Steven Davis (Rangers), Niall McGinn (Aberdeen), Corry Evans (Sunderland), Stuart Dallas (Leeds United), George Saville (Millwall), Jordan Thompson (Stoke City), Alistair McCann (Preston North End), Paddy Lane (Fleetwood Town), Matthew Kennedy (Aberdeen), Liam Donnelly (Motherwell)
Forward: Josh Magennis (Hull City), Dion Charles (Bolton Wanderers), Gavin Whyte (Oxford United, loan from Cardiff), Shayne Lavery (Blackpool)
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