Michael O'Neill hopes Northern Ireland striker Liam Boyce can return against Bosnia

Michael O'Neill has confirmed that Northern Ireland striker Liam Boyce has returned to training and could be fit to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UEFA Nations League on Monday.

O'Neill is struggling for attacking options with Will Grigg having returned to Wigan with a hamstring injury, while Kyle Lafferty withdrew from the squad ahead of the international break.

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Boyce sat out Friday's 1-0 defeat to Austria in Vienna with a knee injury but he may be available for selection for the game in Sarajevo, which is live on Sky Sports.

"He trained this morning [Sunday] and came through it, and he'll be training a little bit tonight," said O'Neill, whose only other strikers fit for selection are Josh Magennis and Kyle Vassell.

"He's fine and we hope obviously he'll be available for selection."

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Northern Ireland have not scored in their last five matches, although O'Neill was keen to stress that two of those games were the friendlies against Panama and Costa Rica when he gave some younger players the opportunity to impress.

"There's no magic formula, we need someone to stick the ball in the net," he added.

"We're challenged a little bit at the moment with the striker situation.

"We've said all along that for a lot of our strikers this is a step up, they're still getting used to international football and stepping up from League One or the Championship so there's no great track record there."

As for the game itself, O'Neill insists he is preparing his side for a tough contest but feels that, whatever the outcome, it will help in their preparations for the Euro 2020 Qualifiers which get underway in the spring.

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"Tomorrow will be hard but the most important aspect of the Nations League is to prepare the team for when the qualifiers begin in March," said O'Neill.

"I don't think we have enormous pressure in this competition. I don't think any country fully understands the implications of promotion or relegation.

"If two years from now we're in League C it wouldn't be a disaster for us. The main objective for us is to try to qualify for Euro 2020."

Watch Bosnia and Herzegovina v Northern Ireland on Monday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Football at 7:30pm.

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