Michael O'Neill outlines investing in a new era as Pierce Charles and Daniel Ballard star in Northern Ireland's win over Belarus

A major topic before the game was whether or not O'Neill would keep faith in Charles after he started last month's games against Belarus and Belgium, or go with the experienced Bailey Peacock-Farrell who returned to the panel after missing the last international break.

O'Neill elected for Sheffield Wednesday custodian Charles who had a relatively quiet night as second-half goals from Daniel Ballard and Dion Charles ensured Northern Ireland remained top of League C Group 3.

When asked why he chose 19-year-old Charles, O'Neill said: "Two clean sheets, good distribution, good temperament, so I don't think that was a difficult decision.

"I had a good chat with Bailey (Peacock-Farrell) and he knows he has to get back into his club side. He's not maybe had the best start to his situation at Birmingham but we haven't lost any faith in Bailey.

"He's an experienced goalkeeper, that's what he has over all the other goalkeepers especially at international level, but Pierce hasn't done anything to merit being taken out of the team.

"None of the goalies have done enough to warrant that decision either."

O'Neill's team selection was the first time it didn't feature a player who appeared at Euro 2016 as Paddy McNair missed out through injury and Josh Magennis was named as a substitute.

The Northern Ireland boss believes it is the start of a new era for the country - including the likes of Sunderland defender Ballard who has now scored five goals on the international scene.

"That's eight years ago and that probably shows the transition of the squad," he reflected.

"Paddy (McNair) would be the only one that comes into that category and Josh (Magennis) is the only one in the squad.

"That's just the nature of football and we lost a lot of great players over the last 12 to 18 months but we've got a lot of great, up and coming ones coming through and that's what we're investing in.

"Daniel has not played a lot in the last month to six weeks, so it was important that we protected by taking him off after 70 minutes.

"We managed him a little bit but he'll be pleased by that.

"You need a presence in your box and we probably haven't really replaced that since big Gareth McAuley left and Jonny Evans did give us a presence in there.

"Having a centre-half that can have a real impact in both boxes is a real bonus."