Michael O’Neill: Belarusian match behind closed doors ‘not ideal’, says NI boss

O’Neill’s side sit third in Group C3 after their opening win against Luxembourg at Windsor Park and the away defeat to Bulgaria in September.

Although frustrated that NI failed to salvage a point against Bulgaria in Plovdiv, he will be hoping for two positive results in this October window as his side make up for the loss and move higher.

“It was a good moment for us, we were disappointed to lose the game in Bulgaria. It was a test for us but I think at times our performance was decent and we lost a bad goal,” O’Neill explained .

“We were disappointed not to get four points in that period and we hope to make up for that in this period.”

O’Neill admits the lesson his team learned in Bulgaria is that they need to respond better to being a goal down.

He is hopeful that the extra time on the training field, which he gets because his team plays on Saturday and Tuesday, can promote preparations.

“Our problems have arisen when we have fallen behind in games, how to get back into it and that is something we have to develop,” O’Neill added.

“I’m looking forward to (the start of the next international break) because it’s the longest lead we’ll have when we play on Saturday, so we’ll have a bit more time with the players and we can build into the second game. “