Michael O’Neill urges Northern Ireland to build on momentum of Bulgaria win

Michael O’Neill is hoping Northern Ireland can build on last month’s outstanding win over Bulgaria as they look to earn Nations League promotion in the next two weeks.

Northern Ireland moved top of League C Group 3 with a 5-0 rout of Bulgaria at Windsor Park on October 15, and sit in the driving seat as they prepare to host Belarus a week on Friday before travelling to Luxembourg for their final fixture on November 18.

Momentum is a difficult thing to maintain in international football given the long gaps between fixtures, but O’Neill says his players will report for duty in high spirits next week.

“The positive experience at international level helps you when you go back to your club, I know that from my years as a player, but they all face different challenges,” the Northern Ireland boss said.

“Some of them have had limited minutes in that period so they’ll be looking forward to coming back here and getting the opportunity to play again.

“I think the most important thing is that we take that positivity into this camp. We did that between September and October. We’ve had a lot of positive camps even when results were going against us previously, I saw a lot in the younger group that gave me something to be positive and have hope for.

“You need to look at your group and have a bit of hope, and certainly, in the last 12 months in particular, we’ve seen that. It’s about the consistency of how they are when they turn up. They’re ready to work, they know how to work and they’ll be ready to go again for Belarus and Luxembourg.”

O’Neill named a 26-strong squad on Tuesday that included Brighton under-21s defender Ruairi McConville, with the 19-year-old needed as cover for the injured pair Paddy McNair and Eoin Toal, both missing with hamstring problems.

Daniel Ballard returns from an ankle problem to boost numbers at the back, but he has not played for Sunderland since September and his fitness is uncertain.

Also back is goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who missed last month’s fixtures with a shoulder problem. The 28-year-old is two away from a half century of caps, but finds himself in a selection battle after Sheffield Wednesday teenager Pierce Charles impressed in his place last month.

“Pierce was excellent for us in the two games, he kept two clean sheets and his distribution was exceptional,” O’Neill said.

“He’s the profile of a young goalkeeper, he’s only 19, he’s not playing regular football but he played in the Carabao Cup against Brentford and had a very good game. He’s had a lot of positives.

“Bailey has to get himself back into the Birmingham team, he’s had a little bit of an injury that kept him out in October, but competition is good for the squad.”

Motherwell defender Kofi Balmer and ADO Den Haag striker Lee Bonis have kept their places after receiving late call-ups in October but O’Neill remains unable to call upon Ross County forward Ronan Hale, with FIFA yet to ratify his switch from the Republic of Ireland.

O’Neill said he does not know how much longer Northern Ireland might need to wait before being able to select the 26-year-old.

“We’re in constant contact but sending emails every three days isn’t going to get it done any quicker,” O’Neill said. “All the paperwork is there at FIFA but I said many times I didn’t expect it be done quickly and unfortunately Ronan is not eligible for us to consider.”