St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright open to Northern Ireland job

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright says his "CV is quite strong" and feels he could be among the candidates for the Northern Ireland job.

Current Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill was appointed as the new Stoke boss on Friday and will return for any Euro 2020 play-off matches in March.

Wright, the former Northern Ireland goalkeeper, is among the names being linked with the national side to succeed O'Neill beyond that.

"My focus is just on (facing) Hibs," Wright said at a pre-match press conference before Saturday's home game.

"I'm a great believer in whatever's going to happen is going to happen.

"I'm sure a lot of names will be thrown about there and I'm sure there will be speculation.

"I'm sure there's a lot of good candidates out there.

"Possibly I'll be one of the candidates because my CV is quite strong.

"I was fortunate enough to be part of his (O'Neill's) backroom staff at the start of his time at Northern Ireland."

Saints have won their last two matches – at home to Hamilton and Hearts – to climb off the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership and in to ninth place.

They are one point better off than managerless Hibs, and Wright says his side are moving in the right direction.

"I'm excited about this squad we've got," said Wright, who is contracted at McDiarmid Park until 2022.

"We're not out of the woods in terms of being near the bottom of the table, but we're showing signs of getting better."