Northern Ireland can ignite Euro 2024 hopes in Slovenia, says Michael O’Neill
Northern Ireland players during a training session in Ljubljana
Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill is all smiles in Slovenia
Kyle Lafferty after scoring in Northern Ireland's win over Hungary in Budapest in 2014
Michael O’Neill has called on his Northern Ireland team to ignite their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on Thursday night in Ljubljana.
The Northern Ireland manager insists victory in Slovenia can be a launchpad for a bid to reach the Finals just as a success in Hungary proved to be for Euro 2016.
O’Neill’s side enter Thursday’s Group H clash in fifth place in the table with a miserable three points from four games after an opening night 2-0 win in San Marino followed by 1-0 defeats to Finland, Denmark and Kazakhstan, leaving them six points off the qualification places.
Despite that uninspiring start, the Northern Ireland boss feels five wins in the remaining six matches might be enough to make it to the European Championships in Germany next year.
Given that theory, surely the fixture with Slovenia is a must-win affair for what is an injury-ravaged squad missing a host of players including Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans, Conor Bradley and Shayne Lavery with Gavin Whyte the latest out through injury.
Ahead of a crunch encounter at the Stozice Stadium, O’Neill chose to highlight a 2-1 triumph against Hungary in Budapest at the start of Euro 2016 qualifying, declaring that three points in Slovenia could have a similar impact on the current set of players in his second spell in charge.
“Going back to the 2016 and 2018 qualification campaigns, we were capable of going away to win games,” stated O’Neill.
“You have to start it somewhere and we started it in Budapest in 2014 so it takes something like that
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