Northern Ireland will be looking to Dion Charles to translate his club scoring form to the international stage, says returning boss Michael O’Neill.

The Wanderers striker has hit 18 in all competitions this season and has helped Bolton stay firmly in play-off contention.

He is yet to find the back of the net in 13 games for his country, albeit that has totalled just 347 minutes on the pitch in total.

O’Neill pointed towards David Healy, the country’s record goalscorer, who played the majority of his career outside the top flight, as a potential inspiration for Charles and a squad that has been denied a few other big names through injury.

Northern Ireland kick-off with a trip to San Marino on Thursday, followed by a home game against Finland at Windsor Park on Sunday.

“Our job is to find a way to win, simple as that,” said O’Neill, who will take charge of his country for the second stint. “I believe we have the capability to do so, and I think there’s a chance for someone to emerge.

“David Healy was scoring goals for Northern Ireland before he was ever scoring goals at club level, and the onus might be on some of our younger players to follow that path as well.

“I think we have the ability to be a good team again from set-pieces and we can put a team on the pitch that will carry a big physical threat which will always be important for us.

“We’re a little bit of an unknown quantity in the attacking area of the pitch at this time. What do we have? Well, we’ve got a young player who has scored 18 goals this season in League One (Dion Charles) and has scored over 40 goals in two and a half seasons since stepping back into the professional game. I think we should be positive about that.”

 

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