Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans issues warning
Thursday 10 November 2016 23:30, UK
Jonny Evans has warned Northern Ireland another below-par performance against Azerbaijan will endanger their World Cup qualification bid.
The team ranked 88th in the world are the visitors to Belfast on Friday night, as they were four years ago early in Michael O'Neill's reign, when his side had to rely on a stoppage-time David Healy goal to prevent a shock away victory.
Worse was to follow later in that World Cup qualification process when Azerbaijan claimed a 2-0 success in Baku, one month after O'Neill's side had been beaten in Luxembourg during a period when Northern Ireland recorded just one victory in 22 games.
Both nations have seen their fortunes improve in the intervening years and three points at Windsor Park would put Northern Ireland above Azerbaijan into second place in Group C as they aim to reach back-to-back finals of major competitions.
"I think we've come a long way," Evans said as he reflected back on the previous meetings with Azerbaijan.
"Michael spoke about that, how to deal with teams like that. I think they surprised us out there with how organised they were.
"The expectations on us as a team have risen dramatically and I do think for Azerbaijan as well. They're sitting well in the group and I'm sure they will be pleased with how they've started.
"The last game against them at home, we equalised late on, [but] I think we were in control in that game. I know back then we were disappointed with the result.
"I think now it would be even more so and it would really derail our campaign if we were to perform like that again. It would be disappointing for us to perform like that.
"In terms of how we approach the game, we're in a better mindset and we've got a much clearer plan going into the game of how we're going to win."
Watch Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan on Friday night. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7:30pm.
