Matt Doherty ruled out of Ireland friendly with Northern Ireland

Wolves defender Matt Doherty is out of Ireland's clashes with Northern Ireland and Denmark through injury.

The full-back suffered a facial injury after being caught by an elbow during his club's Premier League draw with Arsenal and was sent to see a specialist.

He did not meet up with the rest of the Ireland squad on Sunday and now the Football Association of Ireland has confirmed he will not be available for either Thursday's friendly against Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium or Monday's Nations League trip to Aarhus.

Injury Update | Matt Doherty has been ruled out of the games against Northern Ireland and Denmark due to a facial injury picked up on club duty. #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/YbNxqXGj2X

— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) November 14, 2018

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has welcomed Kyle Lafferty back into his squad for this week's games following his late withdrawal in the last international break as he continues his search for a reliable striker.

"I'm not a great one for talking about luck or rub of the green, but in this campaign we've created loads of chances," he added.

"You look at that last two campaigns, we've not created as many and finished second in the group. In these three games we've created as many chances as we have at any point in time so in that respect I'm not concerned.

"What we need to do is find someone to stick the ball in the net."

- PA