An opportunity to write our names in history - O'Neill

One manager, two jobs - how will O'Neill's situation work? O'Neill already knew he would be without Liverpool defender Conor Bradley after he injured his knee in the Premier League against Arsenal in January. Sunderland defender Dan Ballard is also a doubt for the game after he sustained a hamstring injury in the defeat by Brighton, but has been included in O'Neill's 28-man squad.

When asked what challenges the hosts will pose in Bergamo, O'Neill said: "Well, they're Italy, aren't they? " "It's going to be a very, very tough game. There's no doubt about that," he added in his news conference.

"We're going to have to step up. If you look at our squad, there's 13 players in the Championship, there's four at Premier League clubs and the rest are League One or playing their football elsewhere. "It is a big step up for us, but it's a step up we've made in the past.

"I think we made it in the Germany game [a gutsy 3-1 defeat in September], albeit we didn't get the result that we felt we maybe could have done. We have to try and make that step up again. " It has been four weeks since O'Neill announced he would combine his role with Northern Ireland with the task of trying to help Blackburn Rovers avoid relegation from the Championship.