Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans has opened up about the confusion surrounding the future of new Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill, ahead of the nation's Euro 2020 qualifier against the Netherlands.

Having led Northern Ireland to the last 16 of Euro 2016 during his eight-year spell in charge, O'Neill was appointed Stoke's new manager last week, but the move to the Bet365 Stadium will not stop him from taking charge of the countries' final Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Northern Ireland still have the chance to secure automatic qualification to Euro 2020, but that will be a difficult task considering they would need to probably beat both the Netherlands and Germany in their next two games, and they could still contest the play-off for the tournament in March.

Speaking to the media ahead of Northern Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Netherlands, Evans suggested there is some confusion over O'Neill's future role with the Northern Ireland international team, saying: "I don’t fully understand how it’s going to work. If we get a play-off or not, will he be in charge?

"It’s been said out there he will be in charge of those games. If we qualify for the Euros, will he be in charge?

"He has been a constant through my international career, I've been working with him nearly eight years

"He's always been that one manager to bounce off and has been incredible for my career and for a lot of the lads with Northern Ireland."

The Verdict

The fact that Northern Ireland were so keen for O'Neill to lead them through the final qualifiers for Euro 2020 despite his move to Stoke, highlights the high regard they hold for the manager following his successful spell in charge.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Northern Ireland do contest the play-off fixture for Euro 2020 qualification, and whether O'Neill is in charge of the nation for that fixture and maybe even the tournament itself if they qualify.

Stoke, though, will be needing O'Neill to have his full concentration on the job he has on his hands at the Bet365 Stadium, and it is vital he is not distracted too much if he is to help the Potters stage a revival during the rest of the campaign.