Northern Ireland out to maintain momentum

Michael O'Neill Northern Ireland

Share this story





Northern Ireland sit top of their European Championship qualifying group and boss Michael O’Neill wants his troops to continue their momentum against Greece on Tuesday.

A 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Saturday made it two wins from two games in Group F, following up an impressive victory over Hungary in their opening match last month.

Goals from Gareth McAuley and Kyle Lafferty secured the points that leave Northern Ireland sitting top of the Group, two points ahead of Finland and Romania after they drew with Greece and Hungary respectively.

Next up for Northern Ireland is a trip to face the 2004 European champions Greece on Tuesday night. Key midfielder Chris Brunt missed the Faroe Islands game with a groin strain sustained during training and is also unlikely to face the Greeks.

Greece are 1.49 to beat Northern Ireland, while the visitors are 6.29 to continue their perfect start to qualifying, and the draw is 4.00.

O’Neill told reporters after the game that he was delighted to see Northern Ireland have some momentum and is hopeful that can build confidence throughout his team going into what will be a really tough game against Greece.

The boss said: “We’re delighted to have six points and now we believe we can go and take something from Greece.

“We’ll give it a go and do everything possible to keep up the momentum we’ve generated from the opening two games.”

In the other games in Group F on Tuesday night, the Faroe Islands host Hungary and Romania travel to face Finland. In the latter game, Finland are 2.91 to win and Romania are 2.45.

Leave a comment