"We get smacked successful the look a small spot and rebound truly well."
Head manager Tanya Oxtoby perfectly summed up Northern Ireland's Nations League run aft Friday's 4-0 location decision by Poland.
Looking astatine their 5 games truthful far, 2 things basal out: errors and resilience.
One fails to beryllium without the different and portion the erstwhile has plagued them and outgo them successful rather a fewer games, the second has offered anticipation for the future.
Looking astatine errors first, the 2 goals conceded successful decision successful Gdansk successful their archetypal crippled were preventable.
In the triumph against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Emina Ekic's solo tally and decorativeness came aft the Northern Ireland defence stood disconnected her.
The little said astir Mihaela Ciolacu's equaliser successful the 1-1 gully successful Romania the better, arsenic she had an casual decorativeness aft Ellie Mason and Rachel Dugdale near the clearance to each different and some missed it.
Then connected Friday night, the objective Ewa Pajor burst betwixt 2 defenders to prod location the opener, Jackie Burns talented her a second, and Northern Ireland failed to wide their lines to let Paulina Tomasiak to people a 3rd earlier half-time.
However, Oxtoby's broadside person shown an quality to respond to setbacks.
They didn't crumble successful Gdansk, they fought backmost to bushed Bosnia, and aft the vexation successful Bucharest they produced their champion show of the run to bushed Romania 1-0 astatine home.
Oxtoby hopes her broadside tin erstwhile again dip into their reserves of resilience successful Tuesday's important crippled against Bosnia successful Zenica, wherever a triumph would manus NI a promotion play-off place.
"I don't person immoderate uncertainty successful my caput we'll execute connected Tuesday," she said.
The Australian was keen not to dwell excessively overmuch connected the taxable of errors passim the run arsenic "they're not each the aforesaid mistakes".
"It's hard to lob them each into 1 category, determination are idiosyncratic errors and determination are radical errors the full campaign, it's astir learning from them," she said.
One of the issues for the manager that whitethorn beryllium a origin of the precocious measurement of mistakes is an unsettled backline, with chopping and changing occurring successful each 5 games truthful far.
Laura Rafferty has missed the past 3 games done injury, her lack keenly felt successful the bosom of defence, with Oxtoby conceding the Rangers defender is "50-50" to beryllium acceptable for the crippled successful Zenica.
With a dearth of earthy centre-backs to acceptable her system, Nadene Caldwell has played determination recently, though people a midfielder, whilst Linfield youngster Abi Sweetlove was fixed her debut astatine Seaview against Poland, but similar the remainder of the defence, she struggled against Pajor, who scored 2 and acceptable up the different 2 goals.
After the dissection of Friday night's mistakes, absorption volition rapidly crook to Tuesday successful Zenica, wherever a triumph would assistance Northern Ireland decorativeness 2nd and unafraid that each important play-off spot and people an betterment connected their past Nations League finish.
Captain Simone Magill said NI are "hurting" aft the Poland loss, but she repeatedly spoke of the request to "park" the result.
"We were precise wide astatine the commencement of this run astir what we wanted to spell after, and that's inactive precise overmuch successful our hands," she said.
"Despite Friday's effect that doesn't alteration for us. We person been connected rather a journey, and this is wherever we privation to be.
"We privation to beryllium backmost successful the premix competing disconnected the backmost of the past Euros, we didn't privation that to beryllium a one-off, and if we get the effect we privation we are close backmost successful the mix."
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