'Price's goals can be worth weight in gold for NI'

Former Northern Ireland and Leeds United player Stuart Dallas is part of BBC Sport NI's coverage of Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.

There's always a great level of excitement at the start of a new qualification campaign.

Every bid to reach a major tournament starts with hope, and there is also that pressure to try and reach the sport's biggest stage.

One player I am really looking forward to watching in that environment is Isaac Price.

He may only be 21 but he has already become such a big player under Michael O'Neill, and he has made a habit of being in the right place at the right time in front of goal.

He is already a terrific footballer but there's still improvement in him - and that's really exciting because he will keep getting better

I've watched Isaac in the Championship for West Brom and he's started the season really well.

He's a big part of this side and Michael's plans. He's an exciting talent. He's gone a different way to most players.

When he left Everton he took a huge gamble in going to Standard Liege in Belgium, but he's backed himself and done well.

He is now back in England at West Brom and he's been fantastic since moving to the Hawthorns.

I covered the game against Wrexham and he scored twice. He just has this nature where he might drift in and out of games but he will always pose a goal-scoring threat.

It's so important to find a regular goalscorer in international football.

When we qualified for Euro 2016 we had Kyle Lafferty, who looked like he would score every game. Isaac is doing really well at the minute and hopefully can make a similar impact in this campaign.

There have been a few injury concerns, such as Pierce Charles and Daniel Ballard, and I'm sure Michael was watching the final set of league matches before the international break from behind the sofa, hoping everyone would come through unscathed.

Missing key players is always a blow, and it's not ideal for Michael.

The goalkeeping situation is a problem for him now Pierce is out, and Conor Hazard is still sidelined. It all depends on how Michael wants to play. Different games require different personnel.

We know what Pierce brings with his ability with the ball at his feet, but he's maybe a bit smaller than a Bailey Peacock-Farrell for example.

Playing against Luxembourg is different than playing against Germany. He might want to get everyone up the pitch and kick it long.

I don't think it will disrupt the team too much, it just might change things in terms of how Michael wants to play.

There are goalkeepers there who are more than capable of stepping in. Bailey has represented Northern Ireland a lot of times.

If Michael does go with him then he's more than capable of being a good replacement.

Stuart Dallas was speaking to BBC Sport NI's Jonathan Bradley

Watch Northern Ireland v Luxembourg on Thursday, 4 September at 19:30 BST on BBC iPlayer, BBC Three, BBC Two NI; listen on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster and follow live text and in-play clips on BBC Sport website and app.