O’Neill out to ‘brighten Northern Ireland fans’

MICHAEL O’Neill wants his players to put a smile back on the faces of Northern Ireland fans after a tough week in Belfast.

Extreme weather conditions over the weekend forced the postponement of the World Cup qualifier against Russia on Friday night and then again the following afternoon, but that was far from the only problem experienced in the country.

The snow that had settled on the Windsor Park pitch also led to thousands of homes suffering power cuts, city businesses being hit by the same problem and the closure of the runway at George Best Belfast City Airport.

Conditions have eased up over the last couple of days and the Irish Football Association are confident there will be no problems with tnight’s Group F meeting with Israel. Lingering snow was cleared yesterday afternoon and Israel were given the green light to train at Windsor Park after a Fifa inspection.

O’Neill was also satisfied after personally assessing the playing surface. All that remains to complete the growing feel-good factor is a positive result tonight.

It has been too long since the national side left fans with that winning feeling – 12 games and counting – but O’Neill knows what it means to the public when local sportsmen, such as golfing heroes Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, succeed. “This week we’ve had power cuts and everything else that was going on in the country, there were a lot more severe things going on other than the fact we couldn’t get a football match on,” he said.

“But I think the players are fully aware and recognise the significance of a positive result. We see that with Ulster rugby, we see that with the golfers when they are successful and this is an opportunity for us for a good performance and a good result. If it brightens the nation that’s a nice side effect to have.”

A 10.30am pitch inspection is scheduled but O’Neill is confident the match will go ahead.