Michael O’Neill wants more progress – Northern Ireland v Belarus talking points

Northern Ireland are back in Nations League action on Friday night when Belarus visit Windsor Park in their penultimate fixture of the group.

Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points going into the game.

Promotion push

Having moved to the top of the group with last month’s stunning 5-0 demolition of Bulgaria, Northern Ireland have a strong chance to win League C Group 3 and earn promotion back to the second tier of European football.

Michael O’Neill has insisted throughout that the Nations League is secondary on his list of priorities as he looks to mould a side to contend in next year’s World Cup qualifying campaign, but finishing off this job in a professional manner would be a big statement from a youthful squad.

But with only a one-point advantage over Belarus, and Bulgaria two points back in third, there is still plenty of work to do.

Build on Bulgaria

Momentum is not an easy thing to build in international football given the long gaps between games, but there has been a noticeable spring in the steps of Northern Ireland players following that huge win at Windsor Park last month.

No one is expecting another rush of goals and O’Neill remains adamant that the final third is where his side still have the most work to do, but the potential in this side has been made abundantly clear.

Goalkeeping dilemma

One of the most intriguing questions to be answered when O’Neill names his team on Friday will be who starts in goal.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell is back from the injury that kept him out last month, and has long been O’Neill’s number one – the 28-year-old is two caps shy of his half-century.

But he has struggled since joining Birmingham in the summer, and made a costly mistake in his last Northern Ireland appearance – the 1-0 loss to Bulgaria in September.

In his place, 19-year-old Pierce Charles came in and kept two clean sheets while showing off a range of passing which changed the way Northern Ireland are able to play out from the back. Charles is still young and untested, but O’Neill has a big decision to make.

Defensive shortage

This is another window where injuries have taken a bite out of O’Neill’s options, not least because most of them come in defence.

Eoin Toal and Paddy McNair were sidelined by hamstring injuries before O’Neill made his squad selection, and Jamal Lewis has joined Ross McCausland in being forced out of the squad since they reported to camp in Belfast at the start of the week.

Daniel Ballard is back, but the Sunderland centre-half has managed only 11 minutes of action in the last two months, so it remains to be seen how much of a role he can play over the next two games.

Home advantage

Perhaps the biggest relief for O’Neill and his players is that Friday’s match is in Belfast.

The venue for this fixture was in doubt until only a couple of weeks ago as all parties waited on a decision from the UK Government on whether or not to grant entry visas to the Belarus team amid ongoing sanctions against the nation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Considerable time and energy had to be spent on developing contingency plans – with a return to Zalaegerszeg, Hungary being lined up if needed – but Northern Ireland were keen not to lose home advantage at a sold-out Windsor Park.