Michael O’Neill wants Northern Ireland youngsters to believe they belong

Northern Ireland were agonisingly close to a big result in Copenhagen on Friday night when 18-year-old debutant Callum Marshall saw a stoppage-time equaliser against Denmark ruled out for offside by a VAR check that took a full five minutes.

A 1-1 draw, rather than the 1-0 defeat, would have been a big marker for a Northern Ireland side that included three teenagers from the start with two more coming off the bench.

O'Neill said he had to be patient with young players still finding their way but hopes Monday's home game against Kazakhstan can help them gain confidence.

"Some of them are only starting to believe they can play at this level," O'Neill said. "Now they have to start to believe - hopefully quickly - 'Well, we can win at this level as well'.

"That is obviously what we hope we can instil in them over this campaign and obviously with the game tomorrow night."

O'Neill draped an arm around Marshall's shoulder after the final whistle in Copenhagen, eager to console the West Ham youngster after his big moment was taken away.

While the goal did not count, the finish stood out - an instinctive flick to turn Jonny Evans' header goalwards.

"What he did show with his finish is that's not something you coach, that's just an instinctive player who had the ability to steer the ball towards the net in that situation," O'Neill said. "It's nice to have that but it doesn't mean we can rely on him or we can expect it every time he comes on the pitch, but we were delighted with the contribution of him and all the subs."

Evans said the mood at the final whistle had been one of frustration, but the players quickly realised what they could take from the performance.

"I actually spoke to someone who was at the game and I think the fans were quite buoyant after the game," Evans said. "The emotion of scoring the goal, alright it got taken away, but it gave everyone that feeling.

"For young Callum, scoring the goal, to get that feeling hopefully it makes him more hungry and for us as a team it shows we can go and compete and score goals away from home. Alright it was offside but they were very fine margins."

After Friday's match, O'Neill said he was "not thinking about qualification" for Euro 2024 but instead focused on trying to nurture a young team.

Yet with four teams in Group H level on six points and Northern Ireland just behind on three, it is early days yet.

"We have already seen the nature of the results in this group," O'Neill said. "A win on Monday puts us on six points.

"We can then look forward to the second half of the campaign from there. We obviously have some tough away games to come in September, but I think it is important we start to build that winning culture again, particularly at home.

"When we were consistently competing for qualification, it was our home form that was the backbone of that. We have to start showing we can win games here."

Craig Cathcart returned to training on Sunday and O'Neill said he was "optimistic" the Watford defender would be fit for Monday, but said there were slight doubts over Conor Bradley and Paddy McNair due to knee and Achilles problems respectively.

Matty Kennedy has gone home due to an adductor issue with Fleetwood's uncapped youngster Carl Johnston called up as cover.