Michael O'Neill worries Northern Ireland have forgotten how to win games

 

Rory Dollard
Thursday 13 September 2012 05:36 EDT
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Michael O'Neill, the Northern Ireland coach, admits that after watching Luxembourg snatch an unlikely 1-1 draw at Windsor Park, he is worried his men have forgotten how to win.

Nigel Worthington, O'Neill's predecessor, lost his last four games in charge of the national side. Since O'Neill's appointment, there have been three defeats and two draws.

Now, having seen his team somehow fail to take maximum points from a match in which they had the overwhelming majority of chances, O'Neill is concerned the lack of victories is becoming self-perpetuating.

"There may be an issue there or an element of that," he conceded after Dean Shiels' maiden international goal was cancelled out with just four minutes left by a heavily deflected Daniel Da Mota effort.

"There was a bit of anxiety in our play and that comes from results. We probably let anxiety creep into our play too easily and our performance suffered as a result. We saw players do things we wouldn't expect. The only way to change it is to win games and that's going to take a bit of time."

O'Neill was particularly disappointed by his side's showing after half-time, adding: "The players know themselves they let their standards drop in the second half."

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