Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington praised the displays of substitutes Corry Evans and Rory Patterson in a lacklustre 1-0 defeat by Albania.

"Corry was fantastic - he showed good energy, pressed the ball and broke things up," said Worthington.

"Rory held the ball up well, linked up the play and was always looking to get involved in the game.

"Our first half performance was well off the mark but the second half was a more honest Northern Ireland display."

"It was chalk and cheese - in the first half we were lethargic and slow to the ball and Albania passed the ball well.

"The surface was poor but it was the same for both teams.

"We lifted the tempo in the second half and if we want to qualify for major tournaments we have to come to places like this, deal with it and get results.

"We will call it ring rustiness as we have not been together for a few months but this shows that there are no easy games in international football.

"If we don't perform, we won't get the results. That is the lesson we have learnt," added the Northern Ireland manager.

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