Lafferty out of Northern Ireland's games with Achilles issue

O'Neill did not see happy recounting the story, saying that  the forward "ruled himself out" of the games.

"Kyle had an Achilles problem, we knew he had an Achilles problem in September," said O'Neill during a press conference in Vienna 

"He felt he would be better served not coming and being part of the squad for these two games - albeit he's been part of the Rangers squad all season."

"I was unhappy to be telephoned 12 o'clock at night, [when I was] expecting the player to turn up on Monday.

"Kyle made himself unavailable. I've said all along, international football is a choice. The players decides to play or he doesn't."

The comments certainly seemed at least somewhat barbed, with O'Neill clearly unhappy that he would be without his team's talisman. 

"It's disappointing but we moved on quickly and concentrated on the players that are here," added the Northern Ireland boss.

"I plan to have a chat [with him] but not before the game.

"There's not another international after this until November so there's plenty of time to have that conversation."