‘I’m disappointed, but only with the scoreline’

Michael O’Neill said his young Northern Ireland side are “heading in the right direction” after Saturday’s goalless draw with Belarus.

Northern Ireland dominated the first half but could not find the opener despite creating a number of chances.

Belarus improved after the restart, but the visitors remained frustrated as they missed the chance to go top of Group C3 in the Nations League.

“I’m frustrated and slightly disappointed – but only with the scoreline, to be honest,” O’Neill told BBC Sport NI.

“First half we played really well, were very dominant and played some really good football.

“We just needed that first goal, then the pattern of the game might have changed a little bit and there might have been more space for us.”

We’re not a high-scoring team at the moment’

Saturday’s match, which took place behind closed doors in Hungary due to Uefa restrictions on Belarus, leaves Northern Ireland third in the group with a win, a defeat and a draw from their opening three matches.

Despite not scoring in their past two matches, O’Neill was confident the goals would come in the future as his team progressed.

“We are not going to be a high-scoring team at the minute,” he added.

“It is always a concern when you are not scoring, but it is not something we have not had before, and we just need to find ways to win.

“We have had three games in the Nations League and two clean sheets.

“I tend to find that with a young team like this, that there are learnings.

“We kept a clean sheet, we weren’t beaten, and the shape of the team was good in and out of possession, and a lot of our football was good.”

Northern Ireland are back in action on Tuesday against Bulgaria, and O’Neill hopes his side can recreate their first-half performance and the home support will “make a difference at Windsor Park”.

O’Neill handed out two debuts, to 19-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles and former Larne striker Lee Bonis, who came off the bench in the second half.

Regular goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and his deputy Conor Hazard were both injured for the game, and O’Neill had no hesitation in putting Charles between the posts.

“I felt it was a good game to play him in,” the 55-year-old added.

“There was no crowd and it maybe lacked a little bit of intensity that there would normally have been.

“But he is very assured, he has a great temperament, and we see how he uses the ball from the back which is a big plus.”