Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Saved by the Bail...
NORTHERN IRELAND 0 BULGARIA 0
IAN BARACLOUGH is refusing to give up on his World Cup dream despite a frustrating draw with Bulgaria leaving Northern Ireland behind the eight ball in a tough group.
On the night skipper Steven Davis broke the British caps record by earning his 126th, all the home side could muster was a Stuart
Dallas header that rattled the crossbar at Windsor Park.
A share of the spoils leaves Northern Ireland with just one point from two Group C games and playing catch-up against Italy and second seeds Switzerland.
Baraclough (right) admits an uphill task just became a lot steeper but insisted: “We know what we have to go and do now in the group and that
means beating one of the bigger teams.
“We targeted this game for three points but we now have to look towards September, look to beat Lithuania and then target Switzerland at Windsor Park.
“Beat Lithuania away on September 2 and it puts a different slant on things before we welcome Switzerland to Belfast a few days later. It’s not beyond us.”
While Northern
Ireland boasted 70% possession, only three of their 14 chances were on target, including Dallas’ first half header that looped onto the bar.
“I’m not sure we can create more chances and not score,” said Baraclough. “We could maybe have been a bit cuter around the box but the lads gave everything.
“We had 26 or 27 crosses and created things but it’s not falling. It felt as if we had more than three efforts on goal but it wasn’t to be.”
After losing to the Italians and Swiss in their opening two Group C games, Bulgaria coach Yasen Petrov was content to secure his first point of the campaign in Belfast.
“It was a very tough match against a very aggressive opponent,” said Petrov. “I think a point is a fair result and it is a good result for us.
“Northern Ireland had more energy because they played a friendly against USA on Sunday and we played Italy in a qualifier, so I’m happy to get the point.”