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The ultimate aim for O’Neill is to lead his young squad to a first major tournament since 2016 when the next Euros roll around in 2028.

Their return to the second tier in the Nations League has been successful so far, with Charles scoring a 99th-minute winner in Georgia before the team showed their character with a goalless draw at home to Hungary.

The players definitely looked tired in the closing stages of the draw, which can be put down to the 5000-mile return trip to Tbilisi, but they held their own against Dominik Szoboszlai’s side.

Before that, Northern Ireland had kept Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia quiet in the opener.

While Ukraine do not have the individual star power of the other teams in League B2, O’Neill knows they are still a dangerous side.

He described them as favourites on Friday night, and pointed to the fact that manager Andrea Maldera had made 10 changes between their opening 1-0 win in Hungary and the goalless draw with Georgia in their second game.

“Ukraine’s strength is in their collective as a team, rather than what we faced against Georgia with Kvaratskhelia and Hungary with Szoboszlai, who are top European players.

“I think that Ukraine have many players that have potential to be on that level and go to the big, big clubs in Europe.

“We haven’t highlighted any one individual, but we’ve looked very closely at how they play, with the ball and without the ball, and I believe their strength is in the collective of the team.”

Wigan Warriors hooker Brad O’Neill has won the 2026 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel, the first time he has been given the honour.

The 24-year-old England hooker beat his Wigan team-mate Adam Keighran and Leeds full-back Lachie Miller to win the award.

O’Neill has been at the heart of an impressive Wigan side which won the Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Shield in 2026.

He made 31 appearances in all competitions and was also named Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association Player of the Year.

O’Neill was sin-binned in last year’s Super League Grand Final for a wayward tackle on Tyrone May, however he inspired Wigan to two trophies, after a season without silverware in 2025.

It was a memorable night for the Warriors with Matt Peet also named Betfred Super League Coach of the Year having guided his side to the League Leaders’ Shield and Challenge Cup.

Wigan earned a clean sweep in the final three shortlist for the Woman of Steel award as Eva Hunter, Jenna Foubister and Megan Willams were all nominated, with Foubister taking the prize.

It was the second year in a row that three Wigan players were shortlisted, however this year the Warriors missed out on adding the Women’s Super League title to their Women’s Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Crowns after they were beaten by York Valkyrie on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Halifax Panthers’ Rob Hawkins won the Wheels of Steel award.

Chances were at a premium at Windsor Park as both defences came out on top.

Patrick Kelly hit the crossbar in the first half for Northern Ireland, and Isaac Price had an effort beaten away by Balazs Toth.

After Dan Ballard controversially conceded a penalty in Georgia, Shea Charles also had a penalty appeal waved away in the lead-up to the Kelly chance for a similar incident.

While O’Neill said he had yet to see it back, he did quip that “the referee never seems to make the walk for us to the side of the pitch. It never seems to happen for us.”

The threat of Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was largely nullified throughout the game as Hungary, like Northern Ireland, struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

The only save that Pierce Charles had to make in goal was when a lethargic clearance led to Alex Toth shooting towards goal in the closing stages, but the QPR stopper was otherwise untroubled.

After a 5,000-mile trip from Georgia in their opening game, Northern Ireland had to quickly reset and O’Neill admitted he saw “two tired teams” at the end of the game.

“I think our preparation, our first game in terms of being away from home and everything, was more difficult.

“I felt like Hungary got a little bit stronger towards the end.”

Celtic will “come together and support” manager Martin O’Neill after a “painful” week for the club, chief executive Michael Nicholson has said.

O’Neill had indicated that he would use the international break to consider his future following two defeats to Rangers, either side of a home loss to Ferencvaros in the Europa League.

In the wake of Sunday’s 1-0 derby defeat at Celtic Park, 74-year-old O’Neill had said “it might be time to wrap it up”.

However, Nicholson suggested the club will rally round the manager who has delivered nine trophies over two spells.

His remarks came with the latest financial figures revealing a drop of nearly £33m in revenue.

A loss of £4.8m is largely down to the failure to reach last year’s Champions League and Celtic have missed out again, squandering a 4-0 aggregate lead in their play-off with LASK last month.

“Having started well in the Premiership this season, we experienced disappointment in the Champions League play-off,” said Nicholson in a written statement accompanying the financial results.

“Reaching the league phase of the Champions League is an objective for us all, and we are sorry not to have achieved it.

“On top of that, the losses in the last week have been painful for us all. We will now come together and support Martin and the players, as we focus our efforts on achieving success domestically and in the Europa League.”

Things can turn quickly in Scottish football.

The second act of this season’s Old Firm show on Sunday is still a hard one to call, partly because it’s at Celtic Park and also because there surely has to be some kind of response from O’Neill’s team to their pitiful fate at Ibrox last weekend.

Their fans will be worried, though. Five goals given up against LASK, a desperate experience at Ibrox – and now this.

In moments on Thursday, some of their football was reminiscent of darker days – the failures of Cluj and Copenhagen in 2019 and 2020, when Bayo and Bolingoli were in the building; Sparta Prague in 2020, when Klimala and Ajeti, Duffy and Laxalt were in the team.

It was all very Legia Warsaw, very Salzburg, very Maribor. The energy levels were low, the booing was loud and the feeling of a side with no answers was unmissable.

In the aftermath, O’Neill spoke about frustration, failure and psychological damage, how low moments like these hit you hard and test your resolve. He promised to “get ourselves together” for Rangers on Sunday but his tone was flat and a touch tired.

He outlined some of the ways in which Celtic were deficient on the night but didn’t talk with the spirit of a man who had answers. In many ways his post-match comments mirrored his team’s performance – leaden, stale, disheartening.

O’Neill has fixed many problems over the years, not just in his first trophy-laden spell but in his return to chaos last season. He restored order and confidence, two things that have been lost.

The force of his personality gave Celtic fight. They were not always pretty to watch but they were ferociously hard to beat. Nobody managed it on the title run-in.

That kind of never-say-die only seems like yesterday, but in other ways it feels like an awfully long time ago.