Former Derry man Niall McGinn looking to kick on with Northern Ireland

Dave Donnelly reports from Windsor Park

Niall McGinn says he's got the bug for international football again after making his first appearance in 12 months on Saturday afternoon.

Northern Ireland were beaten 2-1 by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their UEFA Nations League opener at Windsor Park but, disappointing result aside, McGinn was delighted to get back on the pitch.

The Dungannon man hasn't played for his country since a late appearance as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino last September.

For his last start, he'd have had to go back even further to a 3-0 friendly defeat to Croatia at Windsor Park in November of 2016.

In between, McGinn had taken in a four-month spell in Korea with Gwangju, a period that saw him slip out of contention for the national squad.

And the 31-year-old  – who scored in Northern Ireland's historic first-ever European Championship win over Ukraine in 2016 – is hoping to stay in contention for Tuesday's friendly with Israel.

“I was delighted to get the nod – it was my first start in a while,” McGinn told reporters following the defeat.

“I've just got to kick on from doing okay at Aberdeen, and I knew when Michael put me in it was my job to get at the full back, get crosses into the box and create chances for the strikers. 

“I thought I did that. I was really enjoying the game, I was getting on the ball plenty and getting into good positions on the pitch. 



“Now that I've got the feel for it again, of being in from the start, you want to keep playing. I know he'll try and freshen things up and give other boys an opportunity that didn't play tonight. 

“The good thing about losing today is we've another game to rectify that.”

Northern Ireland started the game strongly and controlled the tempo throughout but, despite creating a number of chances, they fell behind to Bosnia's first attack of the game.

Edin Dzeko found room on the left and crossed low for Haris Duljevic to open the scoring just before half time.

Elvis Saric added a second after the break following a mix-up between keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell – making his first competitive start ahead of Michael McGovern – and Craig Cathcart.

Substitute Will Gregg pulled one back in injury time but it was too litle to late for Michael O'Neill's side. Bosnia face Austria in their second group game on Tuesday.



“We know at this level when you get on top of teams and you don't score, we know with teams like Bosnia and the capabilities they have that they will create good chances. 

“They mightn't have created many chances, but when they did they took them. It's about them fine margins in international football. 

“It's shown today - we were the dominant team from the first minute to the 90th and we've come away with nothing.”

Manager Michael O'Neill added: “I was pleased for Niall because he has been out of the team for a while. He was in Korea and he kind of lost nearly a year of his international career. 

“I thought he trained very well this week. He still has that pace and that ability to get beyond the full back. I still think at times he could be a bit more positive as well.”

Additional reporting by Macdara Ferris

extratime.ie will be at the National Stadium at Windsor Park on Tuesday evening in the pressbox and pitchside bringing you all the pre-match buildup, match updates and post-match reaction with our reporters and photographers as Northern Ireland play Israel in a friendly fixture.