McNair is out of hospital

Manchester United and Northern Ireland defender Paddy McNair has returned to England after spending three nights in hospital in Finland.

The centre-back suffered a strong kick to the abdomen on Sunday night when Northern Ireland played Finland in Helsinki – he stayed in the Finnish capital in a hospital with the national team’s doctor until Wednesday afternoon, when he was declared fit enough to fly home.

Despite his return to Manchester, it is expected that he will be out of action for at least two weeks, following the injury. Along with an abdominal injury, McNair has bruised ribs and there was worry that his kidney was damaged in the challenge but it appears that he escaped that eventuality, fortunately.

It was only the second time Paddy had started a game for his country – the first time being in Northern Ireland’s 3-1 win over Greece a few days earlier. The Northern Irish will be at Euro 2016 in France next summer, after topping their qualification group.