Northern Ireland host Russia on Wednesday as the two nations go head to head in their rearranged World Cup qualifier.

The match finally goes ahead after being postponed twice in March due to heavy snow in Belfast.

A win for Russia will see Fabio Capello's side overtake Portugal at the top of Group F, while the Irish are looking for their first win of the campaign near the foot of the table.

The home side have been forced into one change, with goalkeeper Michael McGovern replacing the injured Alan Mannus.

Meanwhile, Andrey Arshavin has been left out of a Russia squad that includes Igor Akinfeev, Alexander Kerzhakov and Sergei Ignashevich.

Recent form:

Northern Ireland: LDDDDL

Russia: WWWDWL

Possible lineups:

Northern Ireland: Carroll; Lafferty, McAuley, Evans, Ferguson; Hughes, Clingan, S Davis, Brunt; McGinn, Paterson

Russia: Akinfeev; Anyukov, Ignashevich, Berezutskiy; Kombarov, Denisov, Shirokov, Bystrov, Faizulin; Zhirkov; Kerzhakov

Sports Mole says: 0-2

Written by
Jack Prescott

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