Ronan Hale: Ross County forward is Northern Ireland’s in-form striker, but they can’t select him yet

Hale was born in Belfast and chose to represent the Republic of Ireland as a younger player, featuring and scoring for both their Under-19 and Under-21 sides.

He scored two goals in five games at the U21s in 2018, but as he bounced around clubs in the League of Ireland and the Irish Premiership and with the likes of Brighton’s Evan Ferguson and Celtic’s Adam Idah on the scene, his chances of winning a senior international cap for the Republic diminished.

Hale continued to go about his business, and he finally found a welcoming home at Irish Premiership side Cliftonville in the summer of 2022.

In his first campaign with the Reds, Hale netted 29 goals in all competitions, and he followed that up with 22 last season, including two in the Irish Cup final against Linfield.

His goal scoring exploits not only made Ross County sit up and take notice, but they also caught O’Neill’s eye as he looks to address a problem position in his squad.

The wheels for a switch of international allegiances were set in motion in August as Hale committed to NI after various conversations with O’Neill.

Yet, as O’Neill explained, it is a slow, “administrative” process that lies ultimately with the world’s governing body Fifa – not the Irish FA [IFA] or the Football Association of Ireland [FAI] – and Hale was “very adamant” to switch, hence why the process was started so there is no suggesting he is staying with the Republic.

Hale was quite calm about the matter when asked by BBC Scotland to comment on the situation after his side’s eventual 2-1 defeat against Celtic on Sunday.

“From what I have heard I am still waiting on clearance to come through, but it has let me fully focus on Ross County, I am enjoying my football and scoring goals,” he said.

“International football is massive, when Michael [O’Neill] phoned me and said the chance was there to play international football it wasn’t an opportunity I was going to let go and hopefully it gets sorted sooner rather than later.”