Northern Ireland boss Michael ONeill is happy to keep on tinkering with his formation as he looks for a perfect Euro 2016 playing system. ONeill played 45 minutes each in the 1-1 draw with Wales on Thursday with 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 formations, the latter having been his preference for much of their successful qualifying campaign.Northern Ireland will play three more friendlies, against Slovenia on Monday and then Belarus and Slovakia, before their first game in the tournament against Poland on June 12, and ONeill will continue to experiment with his teams shape on an ad hoc basis. When asked about his switch to 3-5-2, ONeill said: We were a little bit disappointed that maybe we didnt have more of an attacking threat with that system.I think the two lads up front worked very hard. Its the first time theyve played together and Kyle (Lafferty) hasnt played much football. There are mitigating factors in that. Kyle Lafferty is hoping for more playing time at Birmingham after being frozen out at Norwich Theres always comfort as a coach and a manager when you say youre going to change to four. We threw Jonny (Evans) in at left-back and he doesnt bat an eyelid and we played in the 4-3-3 and are able to deal with it.Its exactly what we want. In the summer we are going to have to be flexible. Either system has strengths or weaknesses depending on how the games going.The most important thing between now and the end of the summer is the players are able to adapt it and understand it very quickly, and the game on Thursday night gave me a lot more confidence that thats the case.Norwich striker Lafferty played 81 minutes against Wales, hours after completing a loan move to Birmingham, and ONeill hopes his drop down to the Sky Bet Championship for playing time will be to his countrys advantage. Sky Sports Paul Gilmour visits Northern Ireland stars Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley as they get their Euro 2016 suits fitted Its up to him now to have an impact as well, ONeill added.Birmingham have ambitions and something to play for. That being the case, if he is a contributing factor to them having a good finish to the season then hell be in a better frame of mind when he comes away with us in the summer.One man ONeill will not be considering is Watfords Troy Deeney. Deeney had hoped be might be eligible to play for Northern Ireland, but he misses out by a generation - a great grandparent has Northern Irish roots, not, as is required, a grandparent. Norwich and Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty has agreed to join Birmingham on loan for the rest of the season ONeill told Sky Sports News HQ: I did explore the possibility of Troy representing Northern Ireland - but that was four years ago.The eligibility, that he believed was available, wasnt. He is a generation out in terms of his bloodline to Northern Ireland. Thats all I can say about it. Hes a player we would have loved to have involved. But unfortunately we wont be able to take it further. Also See: Church earns Wales draw Deeney a possible for Irish Fitness focus for Lafferty McAuley: Dont write us off Matt Moore Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Larry Johnson Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-fred-arbanas-jersey-large-546n.html . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Frank Clark Jersey . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Jerrel Wilson Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Most NBA observers probably wouldnt label Derrick Rose as elite at this stage of his career. But Rose believes he fits that description and that its only a matter of time before he shows it to others.Rose was asked after Knicks practice on Monday if he wants to show this season that he still is an elite point guard.Yeah, but I know I am, he said. Thats no surprise to me. Its only a matter of time until I put it together. All the hard work I put in, everything how I dedicated my whole life to this game, what I sacrificed. Its only a few that did it and thats doing it. So its all about just putting it together.Its only natural for players to have confidence in their abilities, but Roses production in recent seasons has fallen short of elite levels. Last season, Rose averaged 16.4 points on 42 percent shooting and handed out 4.7 assists per game for a Bulls team that missed the playoffs.Knicks president Phil Jackson traded for Rose in June and would, obviously, love to see the guard return to the elite form he showed earlier in his career, when he was named the youngest MVP in league history in 2011. Since that season, Rose has dealt with several significant knee injuries; due to those injuries and various others, the 28-year-old and has played in less than 40 percent of his games in the last five seasons.Rose missed a little over two weeks of training camp earlier this month while attending a civil trial in Los Angeles over allegations that he and two friends gang-raped an ex-girlfriend. He returned to the Knicks on Friday after a jury found Rose and his two friends not liable of the accusations. Rose has spent the last four days working with coaches and teammates ahead of the Knicks season opener Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.Im very excited. We got a lot of great pieces, Rose said after practice Monday. Were learning how to play together. Were learning chemistry. But it comes from experience and it comes wwith playing with each other.ddddddddddddKnicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Rose has looked strong in recent workouts. But Hornacek would also like to see Rose look for his own shot more often in certain situations.I think theres going to be times when Im going to have tell Derrick be more aggressive, Hornacek said Monday. There are times hes trying to set his teammates up, which is great for a point guard. But a lot of the early offense in the open court hes a hard guy to guard. Hell be on the attack.... He feels hes got great players on his team that he can rely but theres going to be times that hes going to have the advantage and were going to want him to attack.Rose believes that the Knicks will be difficult to guard in the pick-and-roll with players like Joakim Noah, Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings.Its pick your poison, Rose said. My job is to create a double team so the weak side has a hard time closing down on shooters.Hornacek has said Rose may need some time to get used to the offense after being away during the civil trial. Knicks doctors have been keeping a close eye on him over the past few days to monitor his stress levels following the trial.Anthony expects Rose to grow more comfortable with repetition after being away for the civil case. He also believes Rose will benefit from expectations in New York that are different than those he faced in his hometown of Chicago.I dont think hes playing with any type of load on his shoulders, hes not thinking about injuries, Anthony said Monday. Whereas before he was coming into training camp rehabbing, now he got a chance to just practice and put everything behind him and focus on basketball. So when you have a talent like that who is coming into the season with a clear mind and a focus that he has, it can be exciting. ' ' '