Lafferty insists Northern Ireland will improve after Poland defeat

Michael O’Neill has acknowledged Northern Ireland were outplayed by Poland, but sees reason for optimism ahead of their clash with Ukraine.

The French city was awash with green and white as supporters revelled in the fact they were finally back on the championship stage. He went on to say that the team “didn’t get the ball quick enough into the final third” and if that is not happening then goals are hard to come by. “It certainly feels very nice – we realise we’ve achieved something – but there’s still a long way to go in this tournament”, Milik said.

Northern Ireland’s Kyle Lafferty looks set to shrug off a groin complaint to take his place in the starting line-up this weekend and the availability of the 28-year-old striker will provide a massive fillip for O’Neill and his side, given that Lafferty contributed seven goals in qualifying. Lewandowski will warm up for that confrontation with a match against Northern Ireland and its backline made of five players. – Jakub Blaszczykowski has had a hand in three of Poland’s four goals at the Euros (one goal, two assists). Highlights include all of Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 matches as well as some of the FA Cup and Capital One Cup games to name just few. Register and claim your 100% registration bonus.

In fact, Northern Ireland played so well that they now lie in 25th place in the official Federation Internationale de Football Association rankings – two places above Poland.

Northern Ireland will have a tough task keeping him quiet for 90 minutes. McGovern got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.

“If I was to assess how I played, there were good moments, there were slightly worse ones – some stupid mistakes and missed chances”.

“I think we can do a lot, but we cannot be overly optimistic. We were not playing a game where we are 3-0 down with nothing to play for”. “In the early part we hoped Steven Davis could maybe stifle Krychowiak in running the game, but we’re looking at a world-class midfielder here”.

Poland, with their full-backs overlapping and Milik operating in a free role behind Bayern Munich hit-man Robert Lewandowski, swarmed all over their opponents, dominating possession and territory.

McGovern – McAuley, Cathcart, Evans – Dallas, Norwood, Baird, Davis, McLaughlin – Grigg, Washington. “I have to give great credit to my players because we stayed in the game”.