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Northern Ireland will be looking for revenge on Friday night when they travel to Serbia in their Group C Euro 2012 qualifying match.
Nigel Worthington’s men were defeated by a single goal the last time the two sides met, with Danko Lazovic grabbing the decisive strike.
This was only a friendly match though, so Northern Ireland would love to get the victory in this competitive game.
It is certainly an important fixture between the sides sitting 4th and 5th in the table. Northern Ireland have played a game less though, so victory tomorrow night would keep there hopes of qualifying for Euro 2010 extremely realistic.
As things stand in Group C, Italy are overwhelming favourites to qualify and currently sit three points clear at the top. The remaining teams, with the exception of San Marino, will then fancy their chances of finishing second, with just three points seperating them at the moment.
Worthington’s side could put themselves in the driving seat with victory, but it is going to be an extremely tough challenge for them. They have proved during this campaign so far that they can compete with teams on a par with Serbia, but going there and winning would take some effort.
Realistically, Northern Ireland would settle for their unbeaten run remaining intact and to come away with a point would be more than satisfying.
This would be a good platform for them to take into the crucial home game with Slovenia on Tuesday. It isn’t quite make or break time for Northern Ireland, but they will certainly be able to assess their chances of qualifying a lot more accurately after these two games.
With regards to team news for the Serbia game, Lee Camp is likely to make his debut in the absence of Maik Taylor. Steven Davies and Aaron Hughes are unavaliable through injury, with Chris Baird set to captain the side.
As for Serbia, they hope to have their key man Nikola Zigic avaliable, but Nemanja Vidic will miss out.
Overall, the match – which will be played in front of just 200 Irish supporters after Serbian fans forced the abandoment of their recent fixture in Italy – should be a very tight affair, possibly with one goal enough to win the crucial three points.
