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Ian Baraclough insisted it is \u201cnot beyond\u201d his Northern Ireland side to pull off upset victories in their World Cup qualifying campaign and get back on track after Wednesday\u2019s damaging goalless draw with Bulgaria.<\/p>\nIan Baraclough insisted it is \u201cnot beyond\u201d his Northern Ireland side to pull off upset victories in their World Cup qualifying campaign and get back on track after Wednesday\u2019s damaging goalless draw with Bulgaria.<\/p>\n
The manager and his players had embraced talk of Wednesday\u2019s match being a \u2018must-win\u2019 fixture in the build-up and although they failed to do so, Baraclough was not ready to write off hopes of reaching Qatar 2022.<\/p>\n
Coming on the back of last week\u2019s loss to Italy in Parma, Wednesday\u2019s draw leaves Northern Ireland already playing catch-up in Group C, almost certainly needing to take points off the Italians and Switzerland, who have both taken maximum points from their opening fixtures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what we have to go and do, we have to beat one of the bigger teams,\u201d said Baraclough. \u201cIt\u2019s not beyond us, it\u2019s not beyond the players and the group as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully in September, October, November, we have the fans back in the stadium. That\u2019s a massive part of what we\u2019re about as a nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf (Windsor Park) had been full and bouncing, I think we win that game. They suck the ball into the net. Let\u2019s not forget about that. That\u2019s the type of game where the fans get us over the line, but they also help us when the bigger nations come here as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players have performed in these bigger games when it\u2019s been a full house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland\u2019s lack of cutting edge proved costly on Wednesday night as they dominated the match but failed to convert any of the chances which they were able to carve out \u2013 a familiar story in recent outings.<\/p>\n
There was at least the first clean sheet for Baraclough after 11 games in charge, thanks in large part to a great last-minute save from Bailey Peacock-Farrell, though it was only a slight comfort on the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cA clean sheet is pleasing but I\u2019d much prefer to be talking about a 2-1 win,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll take every positive we can get. It\u2019s good for Bailey and his confidence. Dan Ballard I thought was exceptional as well, we\u2019re trying to build on his experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland must now wait until September\u2019s trip to Lithuania to try to put things right in qualifying, but before then they will play friendlies against Turkey and Ukraine in June.<\/p>\n
Baraclough, who has already brought a number of players through that he worked with at under-21s level, said he would use the trip to introduce some more fresh faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get together at the end of May and go to Turkey and then move on to Ukraine,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are two teams who are putting together their final preparations for the Euros. I will have to speak to the players in the next couple of weeks about their availability.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a long hard season for them during the Covid season and there is no onus on them to join up \u2013 that will be something for me as a manager asking them to come and be part of the group to help us going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ll also integrate some of the younger players in a more relaxed fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n