Michael O'Neill not interested in talk of Scotland switch

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 14 November 2016

Michael O'Neill says that he "has not given a second thought" to the prospect of leaving his position as Northern Ireland manager to take over Scotland.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has played down talk that he would be interested in taking on the Scotland job should Gordon Strachan step down.

The 47-year-old has been tipped as the perfect replacement for Strachan, whose position has come under fire following a disappointing start to his side's World Cup qualifying campaign.

A 3-0 defeat to England has reportedly left the former Celtic and Coventry City chief on the brink, but O'Neill has already distanced himself from the job, having penned a four-year contract extension in March.

"First of all, there's someone in that job who I have a huge amount of respect for, who is a manager I played under [at Coventry]," he told reporters.

"It's probably the fact I live in Scotland is a bigger driving factor of that than anything else. I haven't given a second thought to that at all. I'd rather not give a comment on that situation at the minute to be fair."

While Scotland have made a slow start on the road to Russia, winning just one of their first four games, Northern Ireland sit second in Group C after claiming seven points from the first 12 on offer.