Hume to miss NI friendly with Sweden

Defender Trai Hume will miss Northern Ireland's friendly against Sweden in Stockholm on Tuesday with a hip injury.

The Sunderland man won his 20th cap in the 1-1 draw against Switzerland on Friday night but Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said the 23-year-old has been dealing with a hip issue that was "sore" after the game.

"He'd not really been training with Sunderland, just playing games and getting through games," said O'Neill.

"He felt quite sore after the game on Friday and we thought rather than put him through that again it was better to send him back to the club and have that investigated."

Sunderland are fourth in the Championship, 11 points behind leaders Leeds United.

Northern Ireland's next games after Tuesday are friendlies with Denmark and Iceland in June.

ONeill added: "It's not something that we want, or Sunderland want, to drag on.

"They've got a lot to play for and we would not want him to come here and subsequently miss the games in June either."

Northern Ireland's only other injury doubt after the Switzerland draw is midfielder Ethan Galbraith who sat out training on Monday.

O'Neill said the Leyton Orient man's absence at the Strawberry Arena was a "precaution".

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Shea Charles will captain the side for the third time in the game having previously worn the armband in Nations League games against Belarus and Luxembourg in November.