Martin O’Neil baffles fans during the Carabao Cup second round draw

Legendary manager Martin O’Neill baffled fans with his somewhat unique presenting style during his hosting duties for the Carabao Cup second round draw on Wednesday evening. 

The former Republic of Ireland head coach was paired with ex-Nottingham Forest and Leicester City defender Wes Morgan on Sky Sports for the draw in a seemingly-simple set-up. 

Morgan was in charge of selecting teams from the pot that would play at home, and O’Neill, their opponents playing away. 

But the 71-year-old showed off an unorthodox way of announcing the teams he drew from the 48 in contention. 

Instead of speaking into his microphone, O’Neill chose to tell the ball directly what number it was – at times prompting a barely-concealed smile from his co-presenter. 

Martin O’Neill (right) had an unorthodox way of announcing the numbers on Wednesday evening’s Carabao Cup draw

The former Leicester coach forced his co-presenter Wes Morgan and host Mark Chapman to try and to hide their amusement as he spoke at the ball

In a clip circulated on social media, the former Jamaica international appears to stifle a grin as O’Neill states that ball number eight – Everton – will face Doncaster in their second-round tie. 

Mark Chapman, announcing the teams for the programme, was unable to keep the laughter out of his voice as he confirmed the tie, and O’Neill smiled good-naturedly at his apparent gaffe. 

Fans took to social media to poke fun at the mix-up, with one supporter posting that the former Celtic boss was ‘stealing the show’. 

The second round, which will see matches played the week of August 28, has the stage set for a number of intriguing clashes as 12 Premier League sides entered the pot to join the 36 winners of the first round. 

Chelsea will do their best to avoid a giant-killing at the hands of AFC Wimbledon at home

Vincent Kompany’s Burnley will play last year’s semi-finalists Forest in all-Premier League tie

There are only two all-top flight matches, between Nottingham Forest and Burnley, and Fulham and Tottenham, with a number of Premier League opposition looking to avoid a giant-killing at the hands of teams lower down the football pyramid. 

In two notable match-ups, Chelsea will host AFC Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge, and Brentford will be put to the test on the road against Newport County.

Elsewhere, Wrexham are in for an intriguing clash against fellow fourth tier outfit Bradford City, which will see their manager Phil Parkinson reunite with his old club, having led the Bantams to the final in 2013, and Salford City will welcome Leeds United. 

Mauricio Pochettino’s side will do all they can to avoid an early upset against the Dons, who claimed an important scalp with their first-round victory against Coventry City.