Northern Ireland must accept there will be setbacks along the way as they nurture a new generation of players, according to midfielder Ali McCann.
Michael O’Neill’s players left Windsor Park dejected on Monday night after Abat Aimbetov hit an 88th-minute breakaway goal to give Kazakhstan a 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying victory that was greeted with boos by sections of the home support.
Northern Ireland had far more of the ball and created more chances but were punished for their inability to take them as they fell to a third straight 1-0 defeat in Group H.
It was another night where the long list of senior players missing through injury told, but the youngsters once again pressed into action largely impressed, with 19-year-old Shea Charles named player of the match.
The 23-year-old McCann counted among the more experienced players available as he earned his 18th cap and, although this result might be enough to already put qualification for Euro 2024 out of reach, he said the squad should not get too downhearted.
“Obviously the manner of the goal, it’s not ideal and the result is really disappointing obviously, but there are lots of positives, we always look at the positives,” the Preston midfielder said.
“I thought we were the better side for the majority of the game, but we’ve got to be a bit more clinical and cut out mistakes at the other end.
“There’s lots of transition and there’s still a few of the older lads who have loads of experience and that’s great for the group, and the quality of the younger lads coming through.
“There are always going to be hiccups in the road, we’ve just got to take it. The signs are bright going forward and some of the lads you can see playing, it’s brilliant.”
There are always going to be hiccups in the road, we've just got to take it— Ali McCann
McCann said the defeat was the biggest low of his still young international career.
Northern Ireland must now regroup and hope some big players return in time for September’s fixtures, when they are away to Slovenia and Kazakhstan.
“These types of losses at home are really hard to take, everyone is hurting in there,” McCann added. “It’s a case of not dwelling on it, come back in September, wipe it clean and go from there.
“We’ve got two hard games away from home, but if we can pick up two good results then we’ll see where we are after that.
“In the main we can’t be too down, things like this happen in football so really we’ve just got to forget about it and try to put it right next time.”
After the match, O’Neill said qualifying would now be “extremely difficult”, having taken only three points from four games, but McCann is not writing off Northern Ireland’s chances yet.
“I wouldn’t say it ends, there’s still plenty of games, we’ve got six left,” he said. “If we start September with two good results we’ll see how we are.
“It’s an open group with teams taking points off each other. We’re going into September with two tough away games, we’ll go there trying to get three points in both games and then we’ll see where we are.”
