Gareth McAuley says Northern Ireland will take any win against San Marino
Friday 7 October 2016 15:23, UK
Gareth McAuley admits he would settle for a narrow victory against San Marino when Northern Ireland face them in their World Cup qualifier.
One of the lowest-ranked sides in world football, the principality have conceded 17 goals in their last two away games.
They now visit Belfast to face a Northern Irish side playing at Windsor Park for the first time since its renovation was complete.
As such, a sell-out crowd of over 18,000 will be in attendance which will include high-profile figures such as FIFA president Gianni Infantino and boxing world champion Carl Frampton.
Despite the hype and excitement, McAuley will settle for simply beating a team which has never won a competitive game and failed to avoid defeat in any World Cup qualifiers over the last 15 years.
The West Brom defender said: "It is a must-win game. I'd expect all the other teams in the group to beat San Marino home and away so we are going to have to do that if we're going to give ourselves any chance.
"The Faroes was the same scenario in the last campaign; if you don't do that, then forget about. So that means there is a pressure on us. We've got to stay patient on how we approach it.
"We need the crowd to stay with us and be patient, too. If it is a goal in the last minute and we win 1-0 then job done.
"Obviously we'd like to win by more but the days of doing that in international football are probably gone.
"I won't be disappointed if we don't put on a great performance against San Marino but come out with a 1-0 win, not at all.
"I've been to Luxembourg and lost. I've been to the Faroes and drew down the years. Yes, everyone wants to entertain but the most important thing is to get three points from that game. It doesn't matter how we do it as long as we do."
Previous Northern Ireland teams McAuley has been a part of have struggled against the lesser lights of international football.
International Football: FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
In the previous World Cup qualification campaign, both Luxembourg and Azerbaijan defeated Northern Ireland in their own countries.
There was no such misfortune avoided in the run-up to Euro 2016, however, when Michael O'Neill's side claimed 10 points from fixtures with the Faroe Islands and Finland.
McAuley added: "I'd like to think we have learned our lesson from previous campaigns over the years and how we do things.
"If we are our own worst enemy in the game, we won't get anything from it. But if we make the right choices and do the right things then we have enough but that is down to us players on the pitch.
"After Luxembourg we hit a low against the team we'd expect to beat. But we are in a good place now and we are making the right decisions on the pitch now."
