Northern Ireland players were united in their frustration at failing to kill off Belarus on Saturday night but they are confident it will be a very different story against Bulgaria.
Despite creating several opportunities in the first-half in Hungary, Michael O’Neill’s side could not inflict damage on their opponents and had to settle for a point in the scoreless stalemate.
Northern Ireland had an opportunity to end the night top of Nations League Group C3, but they failed to break Belarus down.
The opening 45 minutes saw the visitors pour forward with 12 attempts at goal, seeing two strikes disallowed and an Eoin Toal header come back off the post as they did everything but score.
On a brighter note, Northern Ireland did not concede and were rarely troubled defensively in the behind-closed-doors scrap.
Sunderland ace Trai Hume is looking forward to returning to Windsor Park on Tuesday when fans can roar the team on to victory over Bulgaria.
“It will be a good game and loud as always, at least we will be able to enjoy playing in front of our own fans,” reflected Hume.
“We are looking forward to it, and hopefully, we can go to Windsor and win the three points.
“Playing without fans it is a bit different, I have played there before in the Irish League during Covid without fans, and it is weird, but it’s a good experience for the boys and we will keep going.
“It was your typical game of two halves. I thought we dominated the first-half and created a lot of opportunities we will look back on and think we should have taken some chances, but their keeper had a good game.
“But because we dominated the first-half so much, we should have been ahead by a goal or two. They slowed the game down in the second-half and, while not rattling us, they disrupted our rhythm.
“We couldn’t really get into the game, even though we created chances.
“It’s just one of those games that can happen away from home.”
Northern Ireland’s George Saville admits his side struggled to break Belarus down in the second-half
Belarus – playing behind closed doors due to Uefa restrictions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – made it seven clean sheets in their last nine competitive games.
The ‘home’ side did a better job of shutting down space in the second-half, and as legs on both sides began to tire, attacking impetus faded.
Midfielder George Saville added: “It’s frustrating; in the first-half, we did more than enough to take the lead, and when you don’t get that goal, the longer it goes, they will sit off and be happy to take a point.
“In the second-half, we struggled to break them down.
“Had we scored, it would have changed the game, and we just need to take those opportunities and control the game from there.
Northern Ireland’s Lee Bonis is targeting a return to winning ways when his side faces Bulgaria
“It felt like we were chasing the game as the second-half went on and it got scrappy. It’s important we win our home games and don’t lose away games.
“If we can win on Tuesday, then four points from six is a good camp.”
With 15 minutes to go, ADO Den Haag’s Lee Bonis replaced Jamie Reid to make his international debut.
“It was a proud moment for me to play for my country,” said former Larne striker Bonis.
“It was nice to get on the pitch for a few minutes, though disappointing we didn’t get the result we wanted.
“We have to look at that and change things so we get a win on Tuesday in front of our own fans.
“There is some frustration and disappointment at not taking our chances.
“On a different day, we score three or four, but it is one of those games, and we just have to go onto the next one and get the three points.”