Thursday 12 November 2015 15:20, UK
Northern Ireland's players have been told by boss Michael O'Neill that opportunities to impress are running out for Euro 2016.
Friday's home clash against Latvia is the first of five proposed friendlies before next summer's finals in France, meaning O'Neill is already thinking about the composition of his 23-man squad.
That is the exact number of players on duty in Belfast this week but with Chris Brunt injured, Aaron Hughes staying with Melbourne City, and a handful of other recent squad members also hoping for another chance, there are hard calls ahead.
"I said to the players the other night that every training session is high stakes now," said O'Neill.
"I can only put 17 on the pitch on Friday night and I'll have two games in March but I'm not big on just changing the team for the sake of it.
"So every session we have is important to these players because the time we spend with them is so limited. People who are in the squad but aren't in the team have to prove they deserve a place. That's either with what they're doing at their club or how they do when they come here."
O'Neill is likely to prioritise game time against Latvia for those who have been sitting out for their clubs in recent weeks, and may even consider another look at the 3-5-2 formation he has used previously, but he has no intention of awarding cheap caps.
"The regular players want to play and they deserve to play," he added. "It's not a case of giving someone a shirt - they have to take that off the person who is playing.
"Sometimes that can happen through injury. We're deprived of Brunty for this game so we'll look at that scenario at left-back and there's a chance for someone to stake a claim.
"It is very much about players taking their chance."
