Michael O’Neill reflects on Northern Ireland’s Nations League defeat in Bulgaria

Michael O’Neill was keen not to overstate the significance of defeat after his Northern Ireland players fell to a l-0 Nations League loss away to Bulgaria on Sunday.

Northern Ireland travelled to Plovdiv in buoyant mood after a run of four wins and only one loss – which came in a friendly away to Spain – in their last six.

But on a poor pitch and in front of a small but noisy crowd at the Hristo Botev Stadium, O’Neill’s men were undone by an avoidable defensive mix-up five minutes before half-time as Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s misplaced pass to Daniel Ballard was picked off by Aleksandar Kolev before Kiril Despodov swept home.

The boss reacts to tonight's defeat