Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington admitted they had let a chance to reach the World Cup finals slip from their grasp after losing 2-0 to Slovakia.

"We had it in our hands and we have tossed it away," said Worthington after a disappointing display in Belfast.

"The work we put in against Poland has been blown away tonight. I am disappointed, hurt and frustrated.

"If Northern Ireland do not do what they are good at for 90 minutes, then they are pretty average."

Worthington said Northern Ireland simply did not get going in the first half.

"You cannot, at any level, play like that for 90 minutes and expect to win a football match.

"In the second half we came out and played like we can play, but it was almost too late."

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Striker David Healy admitted it was difficult to come up with words for the media after the disappointing display.

"Before the match, Nigel showed us what the table would look like but it is almost all gone now," said Healy.

"We are as far from the World Cup final as we have ever been.

"We know what it means to the fans and to their credit they kept backing us to the end.

"We are disappointed in ourselves. It was not a normal Northern Ireland performance - we did not hustle and bustle."

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