Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THREE POINTS IS MIKE’S AIM
MICHAEL O’NEILL believes his forwards can cause Azerbaijan defensive problems tonight in Baku. It remains to be seen if Northern Ireland opt for a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation as they bid to cement ownership of second in Group C. But while O’neill is unlikely to take a gung-ho approach, he believes he has the attacking arsenal to secure maximum points. Ross County striker Liam Boyce is in a rich vein of form while Charlton’s Josh Magennis may be handed a start too. Talisman Kyle Lafferty (inset), who scored in November’s 4-0 win over the Azeri in Belfast, is also available to be sprung from the bench. O’neill said: “Having looked back at the game in Belfast, I’m confident we know the areas we can exploit. “We scored four very goals against Azerbaijan that night against a team who, up until that point, hadn’t been beaten in the group. “When you play away from home you have to adopt a cautious approach regardless of the opposition but we will approach it with a gameplan we think can get us three points. It will be very important to manage the physical side. It will be more demanding physically than tactically.” A win this evening would effectively knock Azerbaijan out of contention for the play-offs and strengthen Northern Ireland’s bid to secure a runners-up spot behind Germany. The eight highest ranked second placed teams from the nine qualifying groups progress to play in the two-legged play-off system in November. O’neill said: “It’s an opportunity for us to cement second. We come into this game in a good place and the team is also in a good place. I do believe this is a bigger game for Azerbaijan who have lost their last two games and conceded eight goals in doing so.” O’neill believes his players will cope with the warm and humid conditions after spending a four-day training camp in Turkey prior to flying to Baku on Thursday. Ahead of tonight’s 8pm kick-off, he said: “The weather is lovely and the temperature is nice, not too hot. By kick-off the temperature will be suitable for us. “The preparation time in Turkey was excellent and we trained three times at kick-off time there. We will have to manage the conditions but I don’t think it will be a huge problem.”