Daniel Lafferty experienced a bittersweet night at Windsor Park on Wednesday as the joy of his competitive debut ended in disappointment.
Northern Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan leaves their World Cup qualifying dream in tatters.
Michael O’Neill’s men have picked up just three points from four opening games.
They have drawn both their home games – against the two lowest seeded teams in group F.
Lafferty – who made his senior debut in a friendly against the Netherlands in June – was handed his competitive bow following the late withdrawal of Ryan McGivern.
And despite impressing in front of the home fans, he admits it was a disappointing night.
“We certainly deserved at least a draw, but we really should have won that match and there can be no getting away from that,” he said.
“While I’m very disappointed with the draw after we had squandered so many gilt-edged scoring opportunities, I was glad we didn’t lose the game as that would have been totally unfair.
“From a personal point of view, I felt I did okay as I felt the way the game panned out was always going to suit me.”
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