Euro 2020 qualifiers: Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill praises his players' resilience
Last updated on .From the section Northern Ireland
Michael O'Neill praised Northern Ireland's goalscorers for putting club difficulties behind them to help fire his side to victory over Estonia.
Conor Washington and Bolton's Josh Magennis both came off the bench to score as O'Neill's men came from behind to win 2-1 in Tallinn.
Washington has been released by Sheffield United while Bolton have faced significant financial troubles.
"The mental side of these games is very difficult," O'Neill said.
"I'm delighted with how we were able to change the game in the second half because it is not easy at the end of a long season.
"We have a lot of players who are without clubs or who didn't play many minutes, but they are here in June playing for their country and giving a really good showing.
"I'm pleased for Conor Washington because he has had a very difficult season and hasn't played much first-team football, but he showed what he is about tonight.
"And Josh has had a difficult situation at Bolton but he has come in and again gets on the scoresheet. Jordan Jones also made a great difference and helped drag the boys through."
Northern Ireland went a goal down to a fine Konstantin Vassiljev free-kick in the 25th minute and they were trailing 1-0 at the end of a disappointing first-half display.
O'Neill brought Washington, Magennis and Jones on in the second half and Washington equalised on 77 minutes with a shot that struck Magennis on its way into the net.
The Bolton forward then applied a deft touch to a low cross from Jones to earn Northern Ireland a victory that maintains their 100% start to Group C - only the second time that Northern Ireland have won the first three games of a qualifying campaign.
"We probably had too many forward players on the pitch at the end of the game after the substitutions but we had to get some energy into the side," O'Neill continued.
"A draw would have been no use to us and I felt like we needed to try and go on and win it. We clawed our way back into the game, created plenty of chances and deserved to win the match.
"I felt we started the game OK and looked in control but we found it difficult to play through them at times. It just wasn't sticking up front.
"Then when the game opened up in the second half it suited us a bit more and we were able to get our wide players on the ball and get players runners in behind them."
