Watch as James Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, receives a knighthood from the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle.
The 43-year-old pace bowler took 704 wickets in 188 Tests during an international career spanning 22 years.
READ MORE: England legend Anderson receives knighthood
Now, the side face the prospect of taking on the group favourites without their best player.
Bradley, who has also been booked three times in five Premier League appearances this term, was shown his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign in the 76th minute for a tackle on Lukas Haraslin.
O’Neill described the decision as “extremely disappointing” and felt his player had tried to pull out of the challenge.
“There were worse tackles in the game and one just before that was particularly poor on Isaac Price that the referee let go,” he said. “To produce a yellow card for that was disappointing.”
Speaking on BBC Sport NI, former Northern Ireland and Leeds United defender Stuart Dallas said Bradley had given “the referee a decision to make” but agreed with his old international boss that the decision ultimately was harsh.
If not for the resulting suspension, it would have been a mere footnote in an otherwise excellent performance.
Bradley was one of four players in the starting XI who went into the game knowing a booking would rule them out of Monday’s game, but Hume said they do not wish to curb his aggressive edge.
“We spoke before the game about the boys who were on yellows trying not to get one, but it’s one of those things,” he explained.
“You can’t go into a game trying not to get booked. You’ve got to play to your strengths.
“He’s full throttle. He’s 100% all the time.”
Since making his full Premier League debut in January 2024, Bradley has started 15 of his country’s 17 games, missing only the friendlies against Sweden and Switzerland in March.
Quite how to compensate for his loss gives O’Neill yet another thing to consider as he plots how to pull off what would be the biggest result of his second spell in charge.
While there is no like-for-like replacement in the squad, Oxford United’s Brodie Spencer figures to fill the void at right wing-back against the four-time World Cup winners.
“You’ve seen Brodie play left wing-back, right wing-back, he’s even played in a back three. We know how strong and athletic he is,” added Hume.
“Obviously Conor is going to be a big miss, but we’re a big group, we’re a strong team and we’re all together.
“It’s something we have to deal with and we’ll be ready.”
When the qualifying draw was made in December, there was an understandable assumption that Germany would top the group and seal automatic qualification with Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Luxembourg fighting among themselves for the play-off spot afforded to the runner-up.
Slovakia’s victory over the four-time World Cup winners to kick things off last month has instead opened up myriad possibilities.
Friday night’s visitors to Windsor Park, who followed up their shock result against the Germans with late victory in Luxembourg, know that another three points in Belfast would be a huge step towards booking their place at next summer’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
While the side ranked 42nd in the world did not make the tournament in 2022, they reached the European Championships either side and were beaten by England at the last-16 stage in 2024 only after Jude Bellingham’s spectacular 96th-minute overhead kick.
Manager Francesco Calzona is the first foreign boss in the country’s history and came recommended by Slovakian legend Marek Hamsik from their time together at Napoli, where the Italian was an assistant coach.
Ties to the Serie A champions do not stop there with midfielder Stanislav Lobotka the side’s key player. The 30-year-old, however, has emerged as a major injury doubt for the game on Friday.
Another with recent Champions League experience, Atletico Madrid full back David Hancko, is another who could miss out.
While O’Neill said he would not believe their absences until the pair were missing when the anthems are played at Windsor Park, should Slovakia be without both then Middlesbrough striker David Strelec will be expected to carry a greater load.
The performances of 19-year-old Feyenoord winger Leo Sauer for the national side have sparked excitement too.
GOLF star Charley Hull stunned in an elegant dress as she attended Donald Trump’s state banquet at Windsor Castle.
The US president is on a state visit to the UK and met King Charles on Wednesday.
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He also hosted a state banquet at Windsor Castle with 150 guests, including golf royalty.
Sir Nick Faldo was in attendance along with Hull, who wowed with her outfit choice.
The world No.10 caught the eye in a silk gown and posted a selfie on Instagram ahead of the dinner.
She captioned the post: “Swapped the golf gear for something a little more fancy.”
Hull, who won the Kroger Queen City Championship at the weekend, is a big Trump supporter.
She said of the American president: “I love Trump. I think he’s brilliant.’
“I like how he just says things, he doesn’t care what people think and he’s straight to the point.
“I wish he was head of the UK. I just like him as a person. He’s a little better than our Prime Minister.”
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Trump, who is a big golf fan, shared the message Hull wrote on Truth Social.
He also invited Faldo along to the banquet, who attended alongside his wife Lindsay De Marco.
ReutersFour men who were arrested after images of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were projected onto Windsor Castle have been bailed, police have said.
The four were arrested on suspicion of a number of offences, including malicious communications and public nuisance, over the projection of the US president and the late convicted sex offender ahead of the state visit to the UK.
Thames Valley Police said the men had been released on conditional bail until 12 December while the investigation continues.
Those arrested were a 60-year-old from East Sussex, a 36-year-old and a 50-year-old from London, and a 37-year-old from Kent.
Sept. 17 (UPI) — Authorities in London have arrested four adults accused of being responsible for the projection of photos and videos of President Donald Trump with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle on Tuesday night.
Uncorroborated video of the projection posted online shows it appeared to be a video detailing the connections and friends between Trump and Epstein involving videos and photos of them together.
The video was projected on London’s famed Windsor Castle ahead of Trump’s visit to London for a state visit.
Thames Valley Police said Tuesday night that four adults were arrested on “suspicion of malicious communications,” while describing the video protest as a “public stunt.”
“Our officers responded swiftly to stop the projection and four people have been arrested. We are conducting a thorough investigation with our partners into the circumstances surrounding this incident and will provide further updates when we are in a position to do so,” Chief Superintendent Felicity Parker of Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
All four suspects, whose identities have not been made public, remained in police custody as of Tuesday night.
Epstein died by apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking offenses.
The disgraced New York financier was a longtime assocaite of the president, and their relationship and questions surrounding it have dogged Trump for much of his second term.
Trump, who campaigned on releasing federal investigation files on Epstein, has received strong criticism from not only Democrats but from members of his on base for not making those documents public.
Late last month, a House committee released records from Epstein’s estate that included a birthday letter to Epstein from Peter Mandelson, resulting in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer firing him as London’s ambassador to the United States.
The committee last week also released a lewd, decades-old birthday note allegedly from Trump to Epstein.
Trump has attempted to brush the issue aside, calling it a “Democratic hoax” and the birthday note a “fake.”
The American president has sued both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal over their reporting on the letter.
Trump is scheduled to be in Britain from Wednesday through Friday, during which he is to visit Windsor Castle, where King Charles III will host him and first lady Melania Trump.
This will be Trump’s second state visit to Britain, following his first in 2019.