Northern Ireland v Belarus (15/11/2024)

DION CHARLES CHARLES SEES STEADY PROGRESS

And when the news broke that tonight’s fixture would be played in front of the home fans, Charles admits it was a major boost. He said: “We’ll take it one game at a time but of course we are happy so far. It’ll be brilliant to be back at Windsor for the Belarus game after the last result (against Bulgaria) and hopefully we can replicate it, but we can’t get too carried away. It’s still early days in a lot of the players’ development. “It’s definitely vital that this game is being played at home. When we played Belarus away from home it was behind closed doors. Our fans really do give us extra motivation to do well.” At 29 Charles is one of the senior members of the squad, although he believes he still has a lot to learn on the international stage. “I’m one of the older ones, however I’ve not got that many caps at the minute, and I’m still learning on the job. “It’s been great from the minute I came into the squad. International football is so different to club football. It’s that cutting edge in both boxes. ”You’re playing against better strikers, defenders and midfielders, so you have to concentrate because if you give the ball away in a dangerous area it usually leads to a shot on goal.” After this month international football will be parked until FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers in March and the striker’s full focus will be on trying to win promotion to the Championship with Bolton Wanderers, who are currently nine points adrift of leaders Wycombe Wanderers in EFL League One. “Our performances haven’t been great. We are one of the big teams in the division and we have not got the results that we would have wanted,” said Charles, who has bagged seven goals this season. “Personally I’m doing my job, scoring the goals, but I just want us to start getting a few more points on the board. “I didn’t realise what a big club Bolton are until I actually signed there. Promotion has to be the aim. There’s an expectancy on your shoulders every game, and you are expected to win most games, so it has been tough so far.”

The retirements of long-serving stars Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and Jonny Evans have forced Michael O’Neill to give a host of younger players their chance at the same time. The Northern Ireland manager admits many of them have been introduced to the senior panel sooner than he had envisaged, however they are certainly warming to international football. On the eve of the latest Nations League campaign’s conclusion his team sit at the top of League C Group 3. Ahead of tonight’s showdown with Belarus at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Bolton striker Charles and his team-mates are a point ahead of their opponents at the summit with two games remaining. “The last few results have been brilliant for us. But we’re still a young squad and still learning and developing. We’re building something really good. We can’t get too carried away, however it’s looking promising,” said Charles, who has 26 caps for his country to date. “There has been steady progress I’d say since Michael (O’Neill) came back into the job and you can see the impact he’s had and the results we’ve had. Hopefully the type of performances we’ve been putting in continue, and continue to improve. “It was a case of needs must when so many younger players were thrown in at the deep end and that’s a part of the industry. It’s sink or swim and if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. “The best way to get experience is on the job so when we come to maybe not the World Cup qualifiers but the next Euro campaign the majority of the squad could be on 20, 30 or 40 caps and that will put us in a good place experience-wise.” Last month’s sensational 5-0 hammering of Bulgaria, inspired by a memorable Isaac Price hat trick, was a night the Green and White Army will talk about for years to come.

IRISHFA.COM

15