Jonny Evans is sure Michael O'Neill would inspire Scotland if Northern Ireland manager decides to swap jobs

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Jonny Evans admits Scotland would land an 'inspirational' manager if they succeeded in luring Michael O'Neill away from Northern Ireland.

But the West Bromwich Albion centre-back anxiously hopes O'Neill will decide to rebuff any SFA offer and remain with his current employers.

Northern Ireland narrowly missed out on following up their Euro 2016 qualification with a place at next summer's World Cup following a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Switzerland in the play-offs.

Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland heroics make him the Scotland job's leading contender

Jonny Evans hopes O'Neill will stick with Northern Ireland and said he was 'inspirational'

Those exceptional achievements with the smallest of the home nations have made Edinburgh resident O'Neill the leading contender to replace Gordon Strachan.

While SFA chief executive Stewart Regan has insisted Scotland won't rush into an appointment, the IFA are now braced for an approach from their Hampden counterparts.

The terms of the 48-year-old's contract mean the SFA wouldn't have to pay the £750,000 compensation clause applicable to leading clubs.

Asked about the interest in O'Neill, Evans said: 'I think it's a difficult one for players to comment on.

'As a manager, he's unbelievable, we all love him and every single player plays for him. He's such a good manager and it would be a shame to lose him.

'But we know on the other side that management is such a difficult job. If something came up where it would be difficult to turn down, no-one would ever begrudge him that.

'Can I understand why there is interest in him? Yes, definitely. He's so inspirational, he's very tactical. Even the other night, we had just got off the plane and were on the bus on the way to the hotel.

'He had watched the first half of the game and he came down the bus and he was like: 'We're calling a meeting tonight and we're going to watch it because you didn't play that bad, there are so many basic things you can improve on.'

'It gave everyone a lift straight away. He's got such composure and his team talks, he says the right things to get the lads going. You can see everyone plays for him and we all really respect him.'

Appointed in December 2011, O'Neill saw Northern Ireland dip to 129th in the FIFA rankings early in his reign before beginning the extraordinary climb to success.

Euro 2016 ended a 30-year wait for a major finals, with O'Neill's side now ranked 23rd in the world.

O'Neill was left disappointed on Sunday as his team narrowly missed out on the World Cup

'We've spoken about when he first came in and it was difficult, but look at things now,' added Evans, who was the subject of an £18million summer bid from Manchester City.

'He's got a real good group of lads there and he's created an atmosphere where all the players are thriving.'

Former Hamilton goalkeeper Michael McGovern was equally effusive about O'Neill and believes he can enjoy further success by staying with Northern Ireland.

'I think we can do one more campaign at least with this group of players and manager,' said McGovern, now with Norwich City.

'Things have been going so well and we've waited, I don't know how many years, for this good spell to come.

'Michael's stock is so high at the minute. We would love him to stay, but I'm sure there will be interest elsewhere. Michael is his own man and makes his own decisions.

'If he's here for the next campaign, we will be absolutely delighted as players.'