West Brom 'got lucky' with Michael O'Neill, Blackburn Rovers saga at Northern Ireland | OneFootball

Blackburn and Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has faced scrutiny for his use of players from relegation rivals during the international break.

The relegation battle in the Championship promises to be exciting for the neutral, with five teams fighting to avoid following Sheffield Wednesday into League One.

Oxford and Leicester currently occupy the final two relegation spots, but they both trail Portsmouth by a point, and the duo are only four behind West Brom and Blackburn.

So, there is little margin for error, and with several of the sides coming up against each other over the next month, there could be plenty of twists and turns.

Michael O’Neill under scrutiny for dual role with Blackburn and Northern Ireland

Given what’s at stake, it’s no surprise that clubs are looking at every possible way to get an advantage, and there have been accusations that Michael O’Neill has been trying to give Blackburn an edge during the international break.

The 56-year-old is currently occupying a dual role in management, having been named Blackburn interim boss in February, but he carried on as Northern Ireland boss as well.

That hadn’t been a problem until the current international break, with West Brom, Portsmouth, Oxford and Rovers all having players in his squad.

Due to the short turnaround between the Green and White Army’s friendly in Wales on Tuesday, and the Championship resuming on Good Friday, there were concerns about how he managed players involved in that relegation battle.

So much so, Oxford complained to the EFL over a potential conflict of interest, with the U’s having four players as part of O’Neill’s international squad, and it's thought their worries were shared by others.

As it transpires, Oxford duo Jamie Donley and Ciaran Brown played 64 minutes, with teammate Brodie Spencer replacing the latter, whilst James McDonnell didn’t feature.

Elsewhere, Pompey’s Terry Devlin played 80 minutes, West Brom’s Isaac Price was subbed at half-time and Blackburn’s Tom Atcheson came on for his debut in the final ten minutes.

It remains to be seen if Oxford, or any other club, continue to raise the issue, but when quizzed on the matter by FLW, West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess admitted he could see why clubs were ‘frustrated’, even if he was happy with how Price’s situation worked out.

Michael O’Neill will be concentrating on leading Blackburn to safety

Ultimately, Northern Ireland fell short in their quest to reach the World Cup, so O’Neill will be gutted by that, even if his side did put up a spirited display against the Italians.

However, this has become a major talking point in recent days, and you can understand why to a degree, as it’s a rare occasion in football.

O’Neill has revealed he was ‘disappointed’ by the complaints, which is no surprise. He is someone who is respected in the game, and his only focus during the international break was on what was right for Northern Ireland and his players.

It is disrespectful for clubs to think he would act in a way to benefit Blackburn whilst on international duty, but it shows the desperation of all involved.

There won’t be any club manager that wants their players to feature in meaningless friendlies at this stage of the campaign, but an international manager can pick who he wants and that shouldn’t be influenced.

O’Neill managed his squad in the way he saw fit, and now his attention will be on finishing the season with Blackburn, with those complaints adding a bit more spice to what will be an intriguing run-in for the five clubs.