Michael O’Neill praised the mentality of his Northern Ireland team after they began their Nations League campaign with a 1-0 win away to Georgia.

Shea Charles scored a stoppage-time winner after his brother Pierce saved a penalty from Paris St Germain star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, giving Northern Ireland their first away win in this competition as they returned to the second tier.

Although they needed some excellent saves from Pierce Charles, Northern Ireland looked the more dangerous side for much of the night and Shea Charles might have settled the match earlier than he did.

Northern Ireland have struggled for competitive away wins – this only their third in 13 games since O’Neill returned to the job – but were rewarded for a positive approach.

placeholder image — Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol (left) in conversation with Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill before Friday's UEFA Nations League clash. (Photo by Levan Verdzeuli/Getty Images)

“It’s not easy to win any games in international football away from home,” O’Neill said. “We’re a young team, you saw that with the players we brought off the bench as well, not only the team that started.

“So to come away here and play as we did and win the game was huge. And to win it at the end, and still have that belief we could go and win it is really good because at that point in time, you think 0–0 wouldn’t be the worst result, we’ll take that.

“But we had enough about us and we had enough belief in ourselves that we could go and win the game.”

Northern Ireland showed resilience when they had plenty against them beyond facing one of the best players in the world in Kvaratskhelia.

In an odd atmosphere, soundtracked by several thousand schoolchildren let into a match officially played behind closed doors, O’Neill was left fuming by a series of decisions from referee Orel Tsvika Grinfeeld.

O’Neill disputed the penalty awarded to Georgia after Dan Ballard and Luka Lochoshvili each had hold of the other, and felt Northern Ireland had a case of their own when Shea Charles went down in the box.

Late on, Grinfeeld waved away claims of a foul on Ceadach O’Neill, allowing Georgia a counter-attack which ended with Ballard pulling up holding his hamstring.

“I was very disappointed with how it was refereed and I said that to the referee after the game,” O’Neill said.

“I felt it wasn’t a penalty. It was a clear foul on Ceadach which results in Daniel getting injured because the ball was played in behind.

“I thought there were a number of challenges that he let go that were free-kicks for us that he didn’t give.

“But the team showed a great mentality, not only to deal with a very good team but also deal with the frustration of how the game was refereed.”

Ballard’s injury meant it was far from a perfect start to the group, but three points from this long trip to Tbilisi is a strong platform for the rest of the campaign.

“Our last competitive game was a defeat to Italy in the World Cup play-offs so it’s nice to put that behind us and move forward,” O’Neill added. “With the players we have at the age they have, they’re growing all the time in international football.”