'It was like a bad date' - Michael O'Neill on one of Northern Ireland's biggest lows

Michael O'Neill's broadside tin triumph their Nations League Group against Luxembourg and helium has recalled embarrassingly losing to the minnows successful 2013

Michael O’Neill claims his worst nighttime arsenic Northern Ireland brag volition person “zero impact” connected what could beryllium 1 of his best.

Northern Ireland request conscionable a constituent successful Luxembourg connected Monday to apical Nations League Group C3 and O’Neill says suffering 1 of their most-humiliating losses to the tiny federation successful 2013 is irrelevant. The Irish mislaid 3-2 successful what was lone Luxembourg’s fourth-ever World Cup qualifying win and O’Neill dismissed it arsenic being similar a “bad date”.

He insists helium has a antithetic squad present and does not request to code what happened successful his squad talk. “Look, we’ll spell backmost determination and play the crippled and that crippled volition person zero interaction connected it, zero impact,” said the Irish boss. “It’s similar a atrocious date, person you ever had a atrocious date? You’d ne'er spell backmost to that. It doesn’t mean anything. It means nothing, it’s not the aforesaid radical of players.

“That was a bushed show from a squad that had thing to play for, having played highly good 72 hours antecedently against Portugal and a crippled that we should ne'er person lost.

“You tin person results similar that, but we’re playing with a antithetic radical of players now. We won’t beryllium revisiting it. It’s a large prize, isn’t it winning promotion? So that’s precise important.”

The decision was a watershed infinitesimal for Northern Ireland arsenic they topped their qualifying radical to scope Euro 2016.

“I deliberation for the lads there, if you inquire Steven Davis and Johnny Evans and those radical that played successful that game, it was a turning constituent due to the fact that we won our radical successful the adjacent campaign,” helium said.

O’Neill respects the occupation Luxembourg manager Luc Holtz has done and claims the Irish volition person to execute to get the effect they need.

“We play a bully team. I deliberation Luxembourg person been unlucky successful the group. They’ve conscionable had constrictive defeats. I cognize their manager well, he’s been successful spot for astir 12 years, and I deliberation they person truly developed arsenic a squad nether him.”

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