“There are always going to be hiccups in the road, we’ve just got to take it. Northern Ireland must now regroup and hope some big players return in time for September’s fixtures, when they are away to Slovenia and Kazakhstan. “These types of losses at home are really hard to take, everyone is hurting in there,” McCann added. After the match, O’Neill said qualifying would now be “extremely difficult”, having taken only three points from four games, but McCann is not writing off Northern Ireland’s chances yet. “I wouldn’t say it ends, there’s still plenty of games, we’ve got six left,” he said.

Source: The Herald June 20, 2023 16:56 UTC