RUTHLESS MINDSET’S REQUIRED

MICHAEL O’NEILL has warned his players they will have to find a greater cutting edge if Northern Ireland are to rip it up in

Euro 2020 qualifying.

More than 18,000 fans saw Niall Mcginn and captain Steven Davis settle the nerves against Estonia on Thursday.

But O’neill (below), who needs everything to fall in his favour if Northern

Ireland are to pip pool favourites Germany and Holland to next year’s finals, remains concerned other chances are not being taken.

Paddy Mcnair missed a sitter with a close-range header that bounced over the bar while Josh Magennis and George Saville also had chances to add to the tally.

In their last seven outings, Northern Ireland have created 98 scoring chances but only 31 efforts have been on target and seven goals scored.

“We’ve talked about it,” said Middlesbrough midfielder Saville. “We had a few chances against Estonia and obviously we need to take them.

“We got into the final third a lot of times on Thursday and just need a little bit more quality there to be a really good team.

“It was tough and Estonia defended well. They also man-marked us in midfield and stopped us playing so it was difficult for the likes of me and Steven Davis to get into the game.

“But once it opened up in the second half, our quality showed and it was a completely different game. We played better, moved the ball quicker and did things with a bit more urgency.

“I think we played much better in the Nations League but overall we played OK and getting the three points was more important.

“We know the start to this campaign is crucial.”