Conor Bradley says Northern Ireland will have nothing to fear heading into the World Cup qualifying play-offplaceholder image
Conor Bradley says Northern Ireland will have nothing to fear heading into the World Cup qualifying play-off
Conor Bradley insists Northern Ireland will have nothing to fear against top-ranked opposition when they go into a World Cup qualifying play-off next March.
Amid the frustration of a controversial 1-0 late defeat to Slovakia that ended any hopes of progressing from qualifying Group A on Friday night, Northern Ireland learned their play-off place was assured via the Nations League thanks to Croatia’s win over the Faroe Islands.
But a tough draw surely awaits. If Northern Ireland had hung on for a point in Kosice they would have been favourites to finish second in their group, which would most likely have put them in pot three for Thursday’s play-off draw.
Instead, they will be in pot four. The final list of possible opponents will not be known until after the final group games are played on Tuesday, but as things stand, a trip to face the likes of Italy or Turkey could be Northern Ireland’s fate.
That calibre of opposition does not faze Bradley.
“Definitely not,” the Liverpool right-back said. “I think we’ve come on quite a lot in the last few campaigns, the Nations League and this campaign and I think we just need to try and keep continuing on that upward trajectory.
“We definitely won’t fear anyone. I think it’s all to play for and it’s two games away from a World Cup so there’s no point fearing anyone.”
Friday’s game will be remembered for the bitter taste of defeat and the arguments over Tomas Bobcek’s stoppage-time goal, with Northern Ireland claiming a foul on Daniel Ballard in the build-up. It will not be remembered as a high-quality spectacle.
“It wasn’t a great game to be honest,” said Bradley. “There wasn’t much good football played, but I felt like we deserved the point at the bare minimum and we didn’t get that…
“We’re going to have moments like this. It’s obviously a difficult game. Slovakia are a good team. Any game where you come away from home, it’s always going to be so difficult. I think we need to watch it back first and see what we can learn.
“But I think the more you get experience of these situations, the more you can definitely learn from it and hopefully we can do that.”
Confirmation of the play-off place felt like scant consolation in the immediate aftermath of the game, not least as Northern Ireland have long been confident of getting that much regardless.
Monday’s final group game against Luxembourg on Monday is now a dead rubber, but attention will quickly shift towards March.
“It’s nice to get a play-off, it’s going to be brilliant,” Bradley added. “It’s going to be difficult.
“I think that’s probably my biggest learning so far (in international football) is how difficult away games are because you can be thrown onto any pitch like here, where I felt it wasn’t great and they’re always difficult.
“But we’re really looking forward to it and hopefully we’ll have some of the boys back fit, make sure boys aren’t suspended and then we’re really looking forward to it.
“We’re two games away from being at a World Cup which is pretty special.”