"The Hungarians may be ranked below us, but they have started their World Cup campaign well and will provide stiff opposition for us," said the international boss. "Admittedly they are probably not the force they once were but they still have technically gifted players in their side that could make life difficult for us."

Worthington's preparations for the friendly encounter have been severely disrupted following the withdrawal through injury of Gareth McAuley, George McCartney and skipper Aaron Hughes; however, despite their absence and that also of Stephen Craigan, Worthington he is still happy with the overall make up of his initial squad.

"I feel we needed some continuity which is why I did not make many changes to the panel. There is a strong bond among the current bunch of players and I want to maintain that."

Worthington and his staff have been working hard behind the scenes in recent months monitoring players for the senior squad and also assessing the progress of youngsters at both home and across the water.

"I feel we have a good strong group of players in the senior panel at the moment. Yes we have a few guys who are over the 30 mark but the average age of the squad is just over 25 which bodes well for the future.

"We also have a good crop of youngsters coming through the ranks as well such as Craig Cathcart, Corry Evans and Jamie Ward to name but a few. We now have in place an effective scouting system where we are monitoring very closely the players we have available to us at all levels. I feel not only is it important for my staff and I to be watching players on a regular basis but it is also essential for us unearth as much new talent as possible."

For the game against the Magyars there is only one new face in now 20-strong panel Derry City winger Niall McGinn, but Worthington insists he will not be tinkering too much with his line-up for Wednesday night's Nationwide International. "I will not be experimenting too much against Hungary, but I may make a few changes in the second half injuries permitting."

As for the visitors, Hungary boss Erwin Koeman has also had to contend with a spate of injuries, with no fewer than seven players withdrawing from his original squad of 23.

The former Dutch international has called up two replacements; 23-year-old central defender Krisztian Vermes from Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam who has two caps and rookie striker Adam Szalai who is 20 and who plays for Real Madrid's second string.

The most familiar names to Northern Ireland fans will probably be skipper Zoltan Gera, who is a team-mate of Aaron Hughes at Fulham and Sunderland keeper Martan Fulop.

The two countries have met on three previous occasions; the first being just over 20 years ago in October 1988 when Northern Ireland lost a World Cup Qualifer 1-0 in Budapest. The return match in Belfast 11 months later saw the Hungarian's win 2-1 with Norman Whiteside scoring a late consolation goal for Northern Ireland. Incidentally that was 'Big Norm's' final international match and goal at Windsor Park before injury forced his premature retirement from the game.

The third and final encounter was in April 2006 in front of a crowd of 9,400 in Belfast, the visitors running out winners again thanks to a 62nd minute goal by Ferenc Horvath.