Healy hobbles out of troubled camp

Striker Healy, the 11-goal talisman who has fired them into a qualifying spot in Group F, limped out of training on Monday ahead of what is now a must-win game in Reykjavik.

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New manager Nigel Worthington has moved to ease tension within the squad with a clear-the-air meeting in the wake of the surprise 1-0 defeat by Latvia.

But while Healy's training exit after a kick on the calf was labelled a precaution, his absence against Iceland — who were four minutes from beating Spain on Saturday — would be a huge body blow.

Keith Gillespie and Jonny Evans also missed training with knocks as skipper Chris Baird confirmed that there had been differences within the camp.

Baird said: 'There has been an exchange of views. Everyone has their opinions and the manager wanted us to get it off our chests. It wasn't a ding-doing, it was things that we could have done better.'

Worthington's tactics and team selection came under fire as his reshuffled defence struggled and Healy received too little service to make an impact at the other end.

Winger Chris Brunt said: 'We hope it was just a bad day at the office. We've a chance to put it right straight away.

'Nobody wants to stay in hotels for too long away from their families. But it's an honour to play for your country.'

Worthington said: 'We had a good chat. We got that out of the system before we got on the plane. There's no stand-off at all. I'm in there along with them. We stand and fight together on Wednesday.'

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland FA will continue to fight their Republic of Ireland counterparts over the eligibility of Derry-born midfielder Darron Gibson.

Gibson, who has played for the Republic at virtually every level, played 29 minutes of the 2-2 draw in Slovakia, but that has not changed the IFA's belief he should play for Northern Ireland.

FIFA will decide on Gibson's international future in a fortnight.