'Taking care of business' - O'Neill's master plan to win in San Marino
Massive game for Northern Ireland on the road to Russia
Northern Ireland face San Marino tonight in the first of their World Cup qualifying double header.
Bagging all three points could mean a huge step closer to securing a play-off spot on the road to Russia.
Manager Michael O’Neill is well aware of what is at stake.
“We know that three points in San Marino will put us in a strong position, particularly if Germany are to defeat the Czech Republic in Prague so we can go into the final three games with a seven-point gap over the team in third place,” he said.
O’Neill expects the players to treat the game as they were playing the Germans.
And he says they have simply got to take care of business.
“We've looked at how teams have not played as smartly as they could have and maybe underestimated San Marino,'' O'Neill said.
“That's something we've hammered home to the players.
“The one thing you always want to avoid is complacency in this type of game and the way to do that is to point out the mistakes you've made, your potential weaknesses and to make sure on the night we play as if we're playing Germany or the Czech Republic.
“Having seen the players this week, that's what we anticipate for the type of performance we'll get.
“We don't envisage it will be easy for us. Whether you win 1-0 or 6-0, it's irrelevant; the key is making sure we win the game.''
Northern Ireland took part in a training session yesterday after arriving in San Marino.
Among the players taking par was Jonny Evans, who has been the subject of transfer speculation for the last few weeks. But no deal emerged last night although reports suggest the West Brom captain was close to putting pen to paper at Manchester City.
If Northern Ireland add three more points in Serravalle tonight, they could secure second spot in Group C on Monday against the Czech Republic if the Czechs and Azerbaijan both drop points.
This would put O’Neill’s men in a strong position for a play-off place – having reached the knockout stages of last year’s Euros.
O’Neill added: “There's an underlying fear that you can't get to the level again and that was something that I was certainly very conscious of.
“We've had many discussions of where we are as a team in terms of how we would negotiate this group. It wasn't easy, particularly when Germany and the Czechs were group winners for the Euros, Norway were beaten in the play-offs and we knew Azerbaijan would present difficulties, as San Marino are capable of as well.
“The key was could we maintain the momentum? And we did that very well in the opening four games. I felt once we negotiated the opening four games we were going to be in a good place, which we were. Then you get big results.”
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland striker Conor Washington said there was a determination in the camp to succeed.
“We will take every game as it comes,” he said.
“We have put ourselves in a good position and we want to capitalise on that now.