Jamie Reid believes Northern Ireland can take confidence from their performance in last month's defeat to Germany into this week’s World Cup qualifiers as they look to turn the tables at Windsor Park.
Northern Ireland ultimately lost 3-1 in Cologne but this young side were in the game for the best part of 70 minutes before two Germany goals in four minutes took it away from them.
After the game Northern Ireland’s mood was one of frustration as Paddy McNair said Germany had been "there for the taking".
But that can be fuel for the players as they prepare for Friday’s visit of Slovakia before Germany come to Windsor Park on Monday – two crunch fixtures that can determine which doors remain open to Northern Ireland in Group A.
"It was disappointing," Reid said of the Germany loss. "I felt we were more than in the game for 70 minutes. We had a good enough squad to get something, but maybe if we’d had a bit more experience to bring on the pitch, maybe we could have got something.
"I thought the game plan was good. We got told where we might be able to hurt them and I think we did. We pressed them.
"It was really hard but we can only take confidence from that."
Having scored in Northern Ireland’s 3-1 win over Luxembourg that opened the campaign, Reid kept his place in the starting 11 against Germany, replaced shortly after Nadiem Amiri’s 69th-minute goal.
For the 30-year-old earning his 10th cap, the step up from League One football with Stevenage to facing Germany in front of 50,000 fans was huge.
"Your decision-making has got to be quicker," he said. "I felt like sometimes when I’ve got the ball in League One I’m going to be able to take another touch and then pass. If I had a touch (in Germany) they were on me…
"It feels like the ball doesn’t go out of play. In League One, the ball goes out, there’s a lot of restarts, fouls, and all that. At this level it’s just relentless.
"You’re being asked to do something entirely different to what you’re being told every week and you’ve only got three days to do it. You’ve got to be able to shift mode very quickly. I think all the boys are quite good at it to be fair.
"I love it. It’s pushing me to my limits. I think we did well against them and there’s nothing to fear."
Before worrying about Germany, Northern Ireland’s focus is on Friday’s opponents Slovakia, who top the group after a surprise 2-0 win over Germany in Bratislava.
However, the nation that denied Northern Ireland in a Euro 2020 qualifying play-off were far less convincing in edging out Luxembourg 1-0 via a last-minute goal from Tomas Rigo in their second fixture.
"I feel like it is open," Reid said of the group. "It’s good to have back-to-back home games. It’s not tough playing away, but when you’ve got 50,000 Germans screaming it’s always going to be hostile.
"Packing the stadium on Friday is going to be a benefit for us and hopefully we can give them something to shout about."
Watch Portugal v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
