Dion Charles says win over Denmark gives Northern Ireland belief going forward

Any hopes of reaching Euro 2024 had disappeared long before the Group H finale, but Northern Ireland saved their best until the last night of the campaign as second-half goals from Isaac Price and Charles got the Windsor Park crowd off their feet after a dispiriting run of results.

With O’Neill having to lean on several youngsters amid a nightmare run of injuries, it was the sort of night that can breed confidence and belief into a squad short on both.

“That was more like it, it was a brilliant result,” Charles said. “It was very hard work, but we got the rewards at the end. We went out there with no fear, we had nothing to lose.

“We were the underdogs. They were a brilliant team, but we knew that if we could stay in the game and work hard then we would always get an opportunity.

“Throughout this campaign we’ve been on the wrong end of the 1-0 results, but we were clinical when we got the opportunities.”

There is now a long wait until Northern Ireland’s next competitive fixture – with friendlies to come in March and June before the Nations League returns in September – but Charles wants his country to use this result as a stepping stone.

“It will definitely give us belief and confidence going forward and with the hard work we put in that more nights like this are possible,” he said.

“We’ve all got to buy in and work hard throughout the next campaigns. Our aim is to qualify for a major tournament.

“Denmark were the top seed in our group and we’ve beaten them. We just need to transfer the way we played here into every game.”

It was a first Windsor Park goal for the 28-year-old, who has been frustrated by the officials more than once before. But the Bolton striker acquitted himself well against Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen and enjoyed his rewards.

“It was incredible to get my first goal at Windsor Park,” he said. “I’ve had a few ruled out for VAR so I was a bit sceptical to go off and celebrate in case I was offside, but when it was given I was over the moon.

“Personally it was good to test myself up against a player like Christensen, we had a good battle throughout the game.

“Hopefully we’ve made the fans proud and shown them that the future can be bright with this group of young players we’ve got.”