Former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy sees similarities with Michael O'Neil's current crop and the team he inherited in the year 2000.
Listen to Spain v Northern Ireland on BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website & app from 20:00 BST on Saturday; live text updates & report on BBC Sport website & app; watch Match of the Day Northern Ireland at 23:25 on BBC One Northern IrelandFormer Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy sees similarities with Michael O'Neill's current crop and the team he inherited in the year 2000.
With only three players in O'Neill's 26-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Spain and Andorra over the age of 30, McIlroy thinks the team is going to make steady progress. One of the first young players trusted by McIlroy was David Healy, then a Manchester United reserve team player recently sent on loan to Port Vale, who went on to become the Northern Ireland side's all-time top marksman with 36 goals.
"So I'd nothing to lose by throwing David in. When I went in people were coming towards the end of their careers and I just thought, throw the kid in. He scored and the thing was that he just kept scoring.
"Everything was going like a rollercoaster. I didn't have time to be nervous. Everything was going so quick.," McIlroy recalled.
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