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Jonny Evans hopes Michael O’Neill stays on as Northern Ireland boss

Having played the majority of his career under the peerless Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Evans has a high bar to measure against.

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O’Neill said he expects the players to earn their place.

“We’d all love to see him stay on with Northern Ireland though”.

“We got to the stadium and Michael sat us all down and explained to us we didn’t have to win the game and if we don’t win the game we were still in a great position”.

When asked if he thinks that O’Neill would do well in English football, Evans said: “Yes, I think so”.

“What I like about him is he won’t just settle for what’s there, he’ll try to improve us as a team”, said Evans.

“Every session we have is important to these players because the time we spend with them is so limited”. “I talked with Michael and I changed my attitude”.

“He’s a real thinker of the game, which I like, and he looks at things from different angles”.

“But in the remaining friendlies I want to see that edge”.

“Yes we certainly are, I wouldn’t miss it. Hopefully I think a few of the players particularly the lads that are based in the North West of England will certainly want to go as well, depending on what their fixtures are”.

“He gets everyone playing for him and his tactical understanding is fantastic”.

His side face Latvia on Friday in the first of five proposed friendlies prior to the tournament and places in the final 23-man squad are up for grabs.

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A 3-1 victory against Greece at Windsor Park in Belfast last month booked Northern Ireland’s passage to next summer’s European Championships – the country’s first major tournament in 30 years.

The new Northern Ireland football kit. Nov 9 2015