Northern Ireland 'in a great place' for Tanya Oxtoby despite Hungary loss

Defeat in Friday’s UEFA Women’s Nations League away test arrived by 3-2 as Northern Ireland battled back twice without reward.

Now the second part of a quickfire international double-header arrives tonight at Crusaders’ Seaview in Belfast with Oxtoby confident of turning the pain game into positives.

Caragh Hamilton left it level against Hungary last week before a Simone Magill penalty for 2-2 ahead of the hosts’ added-time goal.

​”Look, from our point of view we probably haven’t need to pick them up,” said Oxtoby on the official Northern Ireland social media platforms. "I think they’re pretty disappointed with the way that we ended the game letting a point slip.

"So I think we’re in a great place where we’ve learned from probably the first 20 minutes of the game and the areas we need to tighten up.

"The second-half performance was much better so we now need to apply that consistently and the pitch will hopefully allow us to do that this time around.

"We want to make sure that we are consistent in our performance so we don’t get ourselves in a position where after the game we’re feeling like we’ve let something go.

"So the players are keen to get back out there...the game cannot come quick enough and we’re looking forward to it.”

Oxtoby also highlighted the importance of home support for Northern Ireland.

"It’s really, really important from our point of view that we make this place as uncomfortable as we can for the opposition,” she said. "The girls I know love playing here and we need your support.

"It’s a big game for us...hopefully we can give you a performance you can be proud of and a couple of goals too would be nice.”

Australia-born Oxtoby was confirmed manager in August, with her first game a 3-0 loss to Republic of Ireland to kick off the inaugural Nations League campaign.

Northern Ireland then defeated Albania by 1-0 before Friday’s late setback in Hungary.