Ex-Imp McAuley named Northern Irish captain

Former Lincoln City defender Gareth McAuley has been named as the new captain for Northern Ireland. The tall defender spent two seasons at Lincoln in the middle of last decade before moving onto Leicester and later Ipswich.

McAuley joined the Imps in the 2004 pre-season and became a regular in the Lincoln defender alongside fellow countryman Paul Morgan and Jamie McCombe. His Imps career reached a high during the 2004/5 Playoffs when he scored both of City's goals in a 2-1 aggregate win over Macclesfield in the semi-finals. Twelve months later he left the Imps and went to Leicester City.

During his time at Lincoln, he starting gaining international recognition and he has now been named as the Northern Irish captain, albeit for one game. Regular captain Aaron Hughes will miss the game against Slovenia due to a shoulder injury and McAuley has been chosen to take his place.