Michael O'Neill accepts this doubleheader against Denmark and Kazakhstan could prove vital for Northern Ireland's Euro 2024 qualification hopes.
O'Neill's men are currently one of four teams tied on three points after two Group H games alongside their next two opponents.
Slovenia lead the group on six points and the Northern Ireland boss has full belief that his squad can be competitive despite their selection issues.
Read next: Cliftonville appeal to fans after some online posts have 'crossed the line'
"I don't particularly like the term transition," said O'Neill.
"You get a group, you get five international windows, you have to try and get as many points in them as possible. That's the nature of the game, and you have to plan a way to get the points.
"Do I still believe we can be competitive in this group? One hundred per cent.
"What would help us in this group would probably be if one team became dominant and beat a lot of the other teams so then we would be in the mix with Finland, Slovenia and Kazakhstan, we're taking points off each other.
"I think that's probably the type of group that will help us, because if you look at the groups over a period, there have been teams that have finished second in their group with 14 points, it's when that number becomes twenty that it becomes a more difficult challenge for any team, and possibly an even more difficult challenge for a young team like we have at this moment in time.
"When we qualified for France in 2016, we took nine points out of twelve at the start of the campaign. We took seven points out of twelve for Russia (2018) and we had twelve points out of twelve for Euro 2020.
"That meant that when you get to the second part of the group, the focus of the players is really there because they have that belief in themselves that they've got something to play for, regardless of the opposition – we had to play Holland and Germany in our last two games for Euro 2020, but we were in a position whereby we believed we could do it because of what we had done earlier in the group."
It will be a big test on Friday night for Northern Ireland's youthful squad in the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, when they come up against an experienced Denmark side.
O'Neill though says they have to control the narrative ahead of the game.
"The thing as a coach is, you kind of have to not draw attention to that, it's how you put a slant on that," he said.
"You write 'very experienced', we could say they possibly don't have the energy that perhaps they did have.
"The narrative around how we describe that to the players is very, very important.
"We can't dwell too much on what their experience is, we have to put confidence into the players that we have, and if we overtalk about Denmark and what they have, we may create a little bit of insecurity."
READ NEXT:
- Michael O'Neill compares new boy Lee Bonis to former Irish League star
Premier League giants confirmed for special SuperCupNI Elite section
Billy Bingham is up there with the likes of Guardiola says Martin O'Neill
Ex-Coleraine star ready to 'level up' after signing new Kilmarnock deal
Sign up to our f ree sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox
