TOMORROW night's Euro 2016 qualifier with Greece will come too soon for Jonny Evans, but Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill still hopes he will be fit for Finland on Sunday.
The West Brom defender hobbled off after 24 minutes of his club's defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Evans will join up with the squad tomorrow "with a view to Sunday," but will miss the game with Greece, O'Neill told a press conference this afternoon.
The loss of Evans is an added blow as Northern Ireland must also plan without top scorer Kyle Lafferty, Derby defender Chris Baird and Fleetwood's Conor McLaughlin, all of whom are suspended.
Victory in either of their final two games would secure qualification to a first ever European Championships for Northern Ireland.
Captain Steven Davis, who netted a rare goal for Southampton in their win over Chelsea at the weekend, says that they cannot afford white-line fever at this stage.
"It's hard to sum up in words what it would mean. We're so close yet so far at this point in time.
"But we've put ourselves in a great position with hard work, being disciplined in games and also quality.
"It's about going out and showing that again, and hopefully we can get over the line tomorrow."
