Magennis: Time to turn up the heat

JOSH MAGENNIS, above, says there can be no excuses as Northern Ireland target some rare June joy in away qualifiers. In their last 17 competitive and friendly outings at this time of year, the national team has celebrated just two wins. The most famous was last year’s 1-0 victory over Ukraine in the rain of Lyon at the Euro 2016 finals. However, the last time the Green and White Army secured three away points in a June qualifier was in 1993 when goals from Jim Magilton and Gerry Taggart secured a 2-1 win over Latvia in Riga. The Northern Ireland team that day included a certain Michael O’neill who has done everything possible to help his players target three points against Azerbaijan in Baku. O’neill organised a training camp in Manchester prior to last week’s 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand and also took his players for a five day camp in Turkey. Magennis said: “It was important for us to go to Turkey to acclimatise. If we had flown to Baku from the UK for the match, it would be a really tough ask. “We have been told how to handle the heat and going to Turkey a week before the match means we’ll be better because of the experience.” Northern Ireland eased to a 4-0 win over the Azeri in Belfast in November, but the smothering heat of Baku makes this game altogether more daunting with temperatures of 25 degrees expected. Magennis said: “The last time we played, it was apparent we won the game due to our high intensity. “Conditions are going to be tough and Michael has made it clear to it’s not going to be an 11 v 11 game. More than likely, it’ll be 14 players used. “It’ll be a case of go as hard as you can for as long as you can.”