Soccer:Nigel Worthington has welcomed former England Under-21 Lee Camp into the Northern Ireland fold and says he would have "no hesitation at all" about pitching him straight into action against Serbia later this month.

Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Camp won five caps for the England Under-21s, including the first match at the revamped Wembley against Italy Under-21s, but was last month given permission by Fifa to pursue a career with Northern Ireland.

Camp (26) qualifies through his grandfather, and Worthington is delighted to have him on board.

With Maik Taylor approaching his 40th birthday and fellow keeper Jonathan Tuffey still relatively inexperienced, Camp has a great chance to become Worthington’s number one.

Having named him in a 23-man squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Serbia and Slovenia on March 25th and 29th, Worthington stopped short of guaranteeing his place in the first XI but was full of praise for the newcomer.

“First off I am delighted to get Lee on board, we are very fortunate to have him,” said Worthington. “I had him on loan when I was at Norwich and I know all about his temperament, his qualities.

“He is an impressive goalkeeper and the last few years he’s been even better. He has played a wealth of games and at a very high level. He’s also a nice age, with Maik at 39 and a couple of young ones in their early twenties.

“If we need Lee to step in it buys the youngsters some time to mature.

“We will have a look at everyone and have a chat but it won’t be about individuals, it will be about what suits the game. But I’ve watched Lee two or three times over the last couple of weeks and, having watched him, I’d have no hesitations at all about playing him.”

Worthington’s squad was largely the same as the one named ahead of the Nations Cup defeat to Scotland.

Camp replaced Linfield’s Alan Blayney and there were two other alterations. Watford duo Lee Hodson and Adam Thompson returned to the party, with George McCartney, who retired last month, and Plymouth striker Rory Patterson the men to miss out.

Elsewhere, record scorer David Healy retained his place having earned a recall for the Scotland clash, as does Werder Bremen forward Liam Boyce, who made his debut in that game.

Worthington admitted he was not yet fully happy with Healy’s amount of game time despite an upturn in fortunes since the striker moved to Rangers.

“David’s still not playing as much as I would like - and he would like too - but he’s getting more football,” he said. “He’s had a start or two, he’s come off the bench and he’s scored a couple of goals, which is good.”

As for 19-year-old Boyce, who has risen to prominence since being picked up by Bundesliga side Werder from Cliftonville, Worthington said: “Liam’s still very, very young but I’ve been impressed with his energy and quality.

“He’s trained well and showed his quality against Scotland. He’s taken his opportunity with both hands.”

Northern Ireland squad:

Goalkeepers: Taylor (Birmingham), Tuffey (Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Camp (Nottingham Forest)

Defenders: J Evans (Manchester United), Craigan (Motherwell), Cathcart (Blackpool), McAuley (Ipswich Town), Hughes (Fulham), Hodson (Watford), Thompson (Watford)

Midfielders: Baird (Fulham), McCann (Peterborough United), Brunt (West Brom), Gorman (Wolves), C Evans (Manchester United), Davis (Rangers), McGinn (Celtic), Clingan (Coventry City), McCourt (Celtic)

Forwards: Healy (Rangers), Feeney (Oldham Athletic), Lafferty (Rangers), Boyce (Werder Bremen)