Pat McCourt moved from Derry City to Celtic last July

Celtic duo Niall McGinn and Pat McCourt have been named in the Northern Ireland B squad to face Scotland B on 6 May.

Manager Nigel Worthington is giving youth a chance in this friendly, with McCourt the oldest in the group at 25.

Manchester United midfielder Corry Evans, the brother of Jonny, steps up from the under-21 side.

Andrew Little (Rangers), Scott Gibb (Stirling) and goalkeeper Jonathan Tuffey (Partick) are among a total of five Scottish-based players called up.

Martin Donnelly was named in the panel but it was agreed with Crusaders that he would not join up with the squad as he is due to play for the Crues in the Irish Cup final on 9 May.

Worthington believes B internationals, such as next month's game at Clyde's Broadwood Stadium, serve a useful purpose.

"This match bridges the gap between the Under-21s and the seniors, which is a big jump," said the Northern Ireland manager.

"It is an ideal opportunity for us to have a look at some fringe players and some young players. I do not see the point of including players that I know enough about.

It is my job to oversee the development of players all the way through from the schoolboys to the seniors Nigel Worthington

"We want to keep pushing these young players through if we can and this will be good experience for them.

"It will be a hard-fought game, you would expect nothing less when two home nations meet.

"If they perform well against Scotland, they could well be in my thoughts to face Italy.

"I would expect one or two vacancies then as some senior players won't be available through family commitments with having a short break this summer."

Northern Ireland are still in with a chance of qualifying for the World Cup finals after successive victories against Poland and Slovenia.

But Worthington's work is not just limited to the big stage, as he explained.

"It is my job to oversee the development of players all the way through from the schoolboys to the seniors. I have got to keep an eye on all of them."

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