Billy McKinlay has been appointed as Stoke City's new assistant manager.

The 50-year-old was Michael O'Neill's number two with Northern Ireland between 2012 and 2014.

McKinlay left that role to take charge of Watford but he was only in the job for eight days when the Hornets decided to replace him with Slavisa Jokanovic

O'Neill and McKinlay player together with Dundee United in the 1990s.

O’Neill said: "Billy and I have known each other since the early 90's when we were teammates and I’m delighted to welcome him to the staff at Stoke City.

"I’ve seen Billy work at both club and international level and I know that he’s an excellent coach who I believe is a great fit for us."

McKinlay landed his first coaching job with Fulham in 2005, eventually working his way up to the role of first-team coach under Martin Jol.

The former Scotland international also spent time in Spain where he served as first-team coach under David Moyes at Real Sociedad.

He then took charge of Norwegian top-flight team Stabaek for seven months before linking-up again with Moyes again at Sunderland.

McKinlay was also one of Moyes' assistants at West Ham in 2017 alongside Alan Irvine, Stuart Pearce and Chris Woods.

Stoke are currently second from bottom in the Championship and face Wigan this weekend.