Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill 'pleased' with his side's 3-3 draw with Finland

16 Aug 2012 08:10:00

The former Shamrock Rovers boss was happy with his team's display against Finland at Windsor Park and singled out a few younger players that impressed him in the six-goal thriller

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says that he is pleased with the performance of his team during the 3-3 friendly draw with Finland at Windsor Park.

Goals from Shane Ferguson, Kyle Lafferty and a penalty from Martin Paterson ensured that the Green and White Army got a credible home draw.

"I'm pleased with the performance and the young players I introduced near the end did very well," O'Neill told BBC. "We started well with two good goals and I was obviously disappointed to lose that lead

"In the second half we had to dig in and despite being careless at times we created opportunities and deserved to get the equaliser.

"Oliver Norwood came on with about 10 minutes left and looked very accomplished in possession and played some good forward passes," added O'Neill.

"Josh Carson also came on and played well - he has quality and enthusiasm. We will see what happens regarding the Russia game but all the younger players are in contention."

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