Conflict of interest claims 'nonsense' - O'Neill
· Yahoo Sports
Blackburn Rovers interim head coach Michael O'Neill says claims his dual role as Northern Ireland boss causes a conflict of interest are "nonsense".
The BBC understands Rovers' Championship relegation rivals Oxford United were 'uncomfortable' the 56-year-old could call on four of their players for a friendly against Wales on Tuesday.
Visit bettingx.bond for more information.
Fellow strugglers Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion also had players in the Northern Ireland squad with Championship fixtures taking place on Friday and Monday.
"That's football, people have opinions and a lot of them are ill-informed if I'm honest," O'Neill told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"The players I pick for my international squad, from a limited pool of players are consistently in my international squad.
"The clubs think it was a conflict of interest I may play the players and risk them against Wales - none of the players played 90 minutes and some didn't pay in the first game [a World Cup play-off loss to Italy]."
Blackburn are four points clear of the relegation zone with seven games remaining and visit Birmingham City on Friday (15:00 BST) with O'Neill now keen to focus on keeping Rovers in the Championship.
"I thought it was a nonsense and to be honest the best thing for me is to ignore stuff like that because it's not important, my focus is here now," he added.
"I won't have another international game until the end of May or start of June so my focus is here now and I tend not to give too much air time to that type of opinion."
Listen to more Blackburn Rovers interviews and content on BBC Sounds.
[BBC]