Oxtoby sees NI’s ‘growth’ after securing play-off

Northern Ireland boss Tanya Oxtoby believes their 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Nations League in Zenica shows the “growth” of her side.

Captain Simone Magill’s composed finish was cancelled out by Sofija Krajsumovic’s equaliser for Bosnia, but NI saw out the draw which secured second place in the group and a promotion play-off.

That is an improvement on their third-place finish in the last edition of the Nations League, and despite the nervy nature of the draw, Oxtoby praised the application of her players to grind out a result.

“It’s always a difficult place to come with the travel, I thought we should have scored a few more in the first half and we conceded a sloppy one, but to show the character to see the game out that’s all that matters at this point,” she said.

“In international football there are no easy games, I said all along every game was going to be competitive in this group and you have to show the character and resilience.

Northern Ireland will now face one of Austria, Belgium, Denmark or Iceland in the play-offs in October after those four sides finished third in their respective League A groups, with the draw taking place on Friday.

Oxtoby was keen to stress that NI being in a position to reach League A for the first time takes a whole squad effort, particularly after a difficult trip to get to Bosnia.

“When you talk about the culture of the group, everyone adds value and contributes to what we’re doing,” she added.

“I said to the players whether you played or not you have contributed to the success of the group, it takes everyone.