Trevor Carson's hopes of winning his first international cap tomorrow have been ended by injury.

The Hartlepool United goalkeeper was expected to start for Northern Ireland in their friendly with Croatia at Windsor Park.

But he was injured playing for Pools on Saturday and, despite heading back to Belfast yesterday, a broken finger has forced him out of the squad.

With Michael McGovern also out, Alan Mannus will start and Roy Carroll has been called up.

Carson was on the bench for Michael O'Neill's side in Friday's World Cup qualifying win over Azerbaijan but flew back to the North East on Saturday morning to play against his former club Cheltenham.

He was injured when he collided with teammate Liam Donnelly as he made a first-half save and was replaced by Adam Bartlett.

Carson went to hospital on Saturday and hoped to be passed fit to become Pools' first international capped player since the 1960s when Ambrose Fogarty earned one cap for the Republic of Ireland.