Craig Cathcart frustrated after Northern Ireland’s Euro 2024 Qualifying defeat to Finland

Craig Cathcart says Northern Ireland were left “frustrated” after their Sunday fixture against Finland, resulting in a defeat in their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

This defeat, coupled with wins for Kazakhstan and Slovenia, places Northern Ireland fifth in Group H after two matches and in search for points.

“We need to pick ourselves up, be positive and get the wins on the board,” said captain Cathcart.

Group H is currently open after two matches with only Slovenia having maximum points on the board from the opening two fixtures.

Northern Ireland, who beat San Marino in their opener, are currently tied in the fifth place, with three points, alongside Denmark, Kazakhstan and Finland.

Cathcart’s side pressed for an equaliser in front of a capacity home crowd, and came close through Dion Charles’ disallowed goal, but failed to convert a number of chances.

“In the second half we felt like we were building into the game well and the goal was coming, but we just couldn’t get there in the end,” added Watford defender Cathcart.

“To come in [at half-time] at 1-0, we were a little bit disappointed. We had a couple of good opportunities and tried to build on it in the second half.

“We put a lot of balls into the box but it wouldn’t drop our way. We had the goal disallowed which killed our momentum a little bit.”

Despite the defeat, Cathcart, who captained the side in the absence of injured duo Steven Davis and Jonny Evans, was pleased with the team’s perseverance.

“The heads didn’t drop and we kept on going,” he added.

“We gave everything we could



Original Post Link