Northern Ireland boss Lawrie McMenemy has defensive worries ahead of Saturday's final Euro 2000 qualifier against Finland in Helsinki.

Full-backs Ian Nolan and Aaron Hughes are struggling with injury and illness respectively.

McMenemy has already lost Kevin Horlock through suspension, which leaves him with just Peter Kennedy in his squad who can play at fullback.

The Irish fly to Finland from their London training camp today and McMenemy hopes Nolan and Hughes will have improved by then.

"Nolan's got a dodgy ankle," said McMenemy. "He's got it strapped up and he's not 100 per cent. Aaron Hughes has got a bit of flu carried over from last week.

"He didn't train yesterday and today he just walked around because he's not feeling too clever."

As well as Horlock, McMenemy has also lost skipper Steve Lomas through suspension and winger Keith Gillespie because of injury for the Group Three game.

Northern Ireland cannot even make the play-offs, but they could restore some pride by finishing third in the group if they beat the Finns.