Manager Michael O'Neill says Northern Ireland supporters do not need re-educated as they understand the challenges faced by his injury-hit squad.
The narrative around Northern Ireland's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign could not have changed more dramatically since before it started.
While admitting a feeling of a missed opportunity around the campaign when announcing his squad for this double-header, a lot of his messaging around the build-up to the games focused on the importance of patience with a squad that is massively inexperienced on the international stage. "If you add the five, six or seven players that we could have had it probably would have made it more achievable but, unfortunately, we lost the game here to Finland and then we had the situation in Denmark where we are narrowly beaten Kazakhstan we lose in the last minute.
He added: "It is very difficult, it is a massive step up if you are playing outside of the Championship to play international football. We are asking lads who are playing outside that level of football, and to be fair I think they are acquitting themselves extremely well."O'Neill is well aware how important the Windsor Park crowd - and the wider Northern Ireland fanbase - is to the team's prospects on the pitch.
"If you took Jonny and Josh out of tonight's team, it is not a very experienced international team. There was very little between the teams in what was often a scrappy game. Northern Ireland were up against it when Charles was dismissed for a second yellow card on 59 minutes, but they did come close twice through two George Saville shots that were too weak to trouble goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
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