Dion Charles will have the opportunity to build on his three Northern Ireland caps after being named in the squad for next month’s matches.

That will rule the striker out of the Reds’ trip to Shrewsbury Town on September 4 having been named in the 25-man squad.

Charles was called up last season on the back of his 20 goals in League One, making his debut off the bench in the March friendly defeat to USA before making two more substitute appearances in games against Malta and Ukraine in June.

The 25-year-old is one of four strikers named in the squad, with Liam Boyce out for personal reasons and the experienced Kyle Lafferty not selected.

Ian Baralcough’s side have World Cup qualifiers away to Lithuania (September 2) and home to Switzerland (September 8) with a trip to Estonia for a friendly on September 5.

Charles will report back to Stanley ahead of their game with Sunderland on September 11.

The other forward options in the squad are Josh Magennis (Hull City), Conor Washington (Charlton Athletic) and Shayne Lavery (Blackpool), with eight players returning to the squad after missing out in the summer.

Speaking of his striking options, Baraclough said: “Liam (Boyce) would’ve been in the squad and I spoke to him from the summer onwards, he spoke to me about a new addition to the family and that certainly for Liam he was in a quandary as to wanting to spend a bit more time with his family. I respect his decision on this occasion not to take this invite up. He’s not in the squad for family reasons.

“Kyle has been a big part of the set-up for 15 or 16 years, but here’s competition for places in those front berths and I just think the four lads I’ve named, plus the wide men who, and have, played upfront, are slightly ahead of him. I’ve explained those reasons to Kyle and I hope he responds in the right way and gives me something to think about next month. The door is definitely not closed on Kyle.”