Rangers winger Jordan Jones was missing from the Northern Ireland squad entirely as the Ulsterman fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Norway in the UEFA Nations League.
The pacey wide man had previously been involved in the country’s last two matches during the international break starting against Austria and appearing as a substitute against Bosnia.
It is unclear why the winger wasn’t even included on the bench in the Norway match as attention turns to who will be available for Rangers’ match with Celtic at the weekend.
Jones himself has previously spoken about his desire to be involved in the match and gave no suggestion that he would not be available for the weekend’s Old Firm prior to Northern Ireland’s match with Norway.
“We’ll have to wait and see, but I’d love to be involved,” said Jones [Belfast Live].
“Obviously, my last Old Firm wasn’t the best memory, so I’d really like an opportunity to change that experience and change it into a positive one.
“It has been a really tough year with injury and being left out of squads and all the stuff you see written about yourself, but you just have to keep going.
“You hope things will change and thankfully I got my opportunity earlier in the season and scored a goal which was a really special moment.
“If you have someone like Steven Gerrard complimenting you it can only be a good thing but you can’t get carried away.
“At a big club things can change daily, so I am sort of worried to enjoy things like that now because I have seen over the last year how quickly football can change.
“I have to keep my feet firmly on the floor and hopefully keep getting opportunities.”
Rangers will be without Nikola Katic for the match with Celtic with major doubts remaining over the likes of Kemar Roofe and Joe Aribo heading into the game.
Defender Filip Helander is expected to be fit after being sent home from the Sweden camp during the break with a “light injury” [Scottish Sun].
Goalkeeper Allan McGregor has also been cited as an injury doubt [Daily Record] which could hand an opportunity to keeper Jon McLaughlin.
Northern Ireland captain and Rangers midfielder Steven Davis come on as a second half substitute for the Ulsterman as he appeared to be rested ahead of the Celtic tie.
