Ian Baraclough: Northern Ireland had 'fear factor' in Austria defeat says manager
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Ian Baraclough felt his Northern Ireland players were inhibited in Sunday's game
Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough says his side suffered from a "fear factor" in Sunday's 1-0 defeat by Austria at Windsor Park.
Baraclough's side could not follow up Thursday's Euro 2020 play-off penalty shootout win in Bosnia-Herzegovina as their Nations League woes continued.
The Northern Ireland boss bemoaned his team's failure to take risks in a rather flat display.
"We want players to go out with no fear to make a mistake," he said.
"Whoever comes in has to be aware, they're not going to get a hard time from me if they lose possession in trying to do the right thing," he said.
"Work hard and get back. There probably was a bit of a fear factor for some reason, until the second half when you're one down and chasing the game.
"Go on, get at them, get the first pass off, be positive."
Michael Gregoritsch's first-half header proved the difference, though in truth it could have been many more as Austria repeatedly carved open Northern Ireland in the first half before things improved for the hosts after the break.
Baraclough made five changes from the thrilling win in Bosnia - bringing in goalkeeper Michael McGovern alongside Kyle Lafferty, Gavin Whyte, Conor McLaughlin, and Jordan Jones - but it was ultimately a subdued performance.
"In the first half I thought we went too long, too early at times as a get out. It was a difficult one for Laff [Lafferty] to get a hold of the ball and then they were winning it around the halfway line and it didn't allow us to get out of our own half."
Defeat means Northern Ireland have now lost six of their seven games in the still relatively short history of the Nations League - and three of those have been against Austria - while Baraclough is also still awaiting his first win at Windsor Park.
Changes were inevitable after 120 minutes and penalties in Sarajevo 72 hours earlier, but Baraclough was wary of making too many.
With Norway - 5-1 winners in Belfast last month - next up on Wednesday night in Oslo the manager will need to look to his squad once again.
"We need to make decisions going into the Norway game on who we put in, who we rest, who we leave out to try to freshen it up again," he said.
"For the lads that come in, it's not easy. I want to see players perform, I want to see players within the group.
"I'm still learning about the group. There were good performances in there. It wasn't a total failure. I've learned a lot more about a lot of individuals."