A draw in Luxembourg will equal a job well done for Northern Ireland, but that couldn’t be further from their minds.
Northern Ireland need one point to secure top spot in Group C2 and, more importantly, promotion to League B in the Nations League.
Michael O’Neill had said his players were under “no illusions” that the goal was to get three points at the Stade de Luxembourg.
For Shea Charles, the message was clear and understood – playing for a draw isn’t on the cards.
“I don’t think Michael would let us go into the game with that sort of mindset,” said Charles, who will captain the side in Luxembourg.
“We’re very determined. We haven’t won away yet and that’s something we’d like to do.
“We don’t want to go into this game playing for a draw, we want to go and win.”
Northern Ireland go into the game with two impressive wins in Belfast, with a 5-0 victory over Bulgaria followed by a 2-0 win over Belarus.
Not only will finishing top of the group secure promotion, it will also keep open the possibility of a back door route into the World Cup play-offs.
Charles said he thought it was a “very good performance” against Belarus, and winning breeds confidence for a youthful Northern Ireland squad, who had an average age of just 22.6 in their starting team on Friday.
“It’s important to win games at a young age as well,” said midfielder Charles, who himself is just 21-years-old.
“We have the confidence to go into the next game and to go and do it away from home will be really good for us.”
Luxembourg are bottom of the group with two points from their five matches, however O’Neill warned they are a better side than their results suggest.
That is echoed by Charles, who was impressed when they visited Windsor Park in September for a game which ended in a 2-0 win for Northern Ireland.
“They are a lot better than what they are doing. They like to play good football and build up from the back.
“They have some good individual players as well. We’re expecting a tough game and when they were in Belfast they did cause us some problems.
“The main aim is to go and win the group and finish off strongly.”
‘It will be a big test for us’
O’Neill wants the trip to Luxembourg to lay the foundations for the upcoming World Cup qualification campaign.
While his side have had an impressive win in Scotland and draw in Romania this year, their ‘competitive’ away fixtures in the Nations League haven’t been as successful.
Bulgaria got the better of his young side in Plovdiv, while Northern Ireland dominated the away game with Belarus but couldn’t find a breakthrough and had to settle for a draw.
“Wins away from home are never easy at international level,” O’Neill said.
“In the past 12 months we won away in Scotland, which was a big result for us, and we drew with Romania.
“To come to this level of opposition and win away from home is something that you are going to have to do once you come into a qualification situation.
“It will be a test for us but we come with the intention to win the game.”
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