Leicester City centre-back Jonny Evans has been included in Ian Baraclough’s Northern Ireland squad for the first international break of the season.
The Leicester star has been included in the national team’s squad to face Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland.
The news comes after Brendan Rodgers said that the 33-year-old’s situation would be reassessed after the international break.
“It’s just ongoing with Jonny and the injury,” Rodgers said. “We said we would see where he’s at after the international break. He’s not near to playing as of yet.”
Evans has not played a game for City since aggravating up an injury in the 2021 FA Cup final against Chelsea.
The Northern Irish centre-half has been struggling with a foot problem for several months and initially pulled up on it in a Premier League game against Newcastle United but was passed fit for the cup final.
Baraclough has vowed not to risk the defender’s long-term fitness during the September international break.
“Jonny is definitely going to be a doubt but I wasn’t going to name the squad without him if there was a small chance he was going to be involved,” said the boss. “He hasn’t started training with Leicester yet so it is a big ask for him to be involved but through conversations with him and Brendan, we all know the situation.
“We hope that we see him back fit and playing. We’d like to have him among our ranks, Leicester certainly would like him to be involved in their campaign so fingers crossed, but it is a doubt, I have to say.”
