A Shane Ferguson stunner gives Northern Ireland victory over Estonia in drab friendly

Ferguson came off the bench to win his 50th cap in Tallinn

A sensational long-range strike from Shane Ferguson gave much-changed Northern Ireland a 1-0 win over Estonia in a drab friendly in Tallinn.

The Rotherham winger had come off the bench and taken the captain's armband on what was his 50th international cap.

It was a rare flash of quality in what was an otherwise uneventful and uninspiring encounter.

Northern Ireland must now prepare for Wednesday's vital World Cup qualifier at home to second-placed Switzerland.

There were two games in Northern Ireland's qualifying group on Sunday, with Switzerland drawing 0-0 at home to leaders Italy and Bulgaria beating Lithuania 1-0 to move a point ahead of NI into third.

Sixteen thousand supporters will be in Windsor Park for the visit of the Swiss, a match which Ian Baraclough's men go into on the back of two consecutive victories after their 4-1 qualifier win over Lithuania on Thursday.

Baraclough had that Swiss match in mind when he made nine changes to his starting line-up from Vilnius, with only Paddy McNair and Jamal Lewis retaining their places.

McNair would have been expected to play after a booking in Lithuania ruled him of Wednesday night's match, though the inclusion at full-back of Lewis was probably more of a surprise.

Ferguson's goal - his second for his country - arrived in the 76th minute when the ball arrived at him almost 30 yards out. He unleashed a bullet left-foot strike that arrowed right into the top corner despite goalkeeper Matvai Igonen getting his hand to it.

A memorable night for the 30-year-old almost got even better a few moments later when he hit another left-foot strike from distance but this time it went just over the crossbar.

What Baraclough learned from much-changed side

Niall McGinn captained Northern Ireland before Ferguson took the armband when he came on

The likelihood is that Baraclough will go with largely the same line-up against Switzerland that earned him a much-needed victory over Lithuania, although there could be a position in the back three up for grabs due to McNair's suspension.

Having switched from his favoured 3-5-2 formation to a 4-2-3-1 in Tallinn, Tom Flanagan and the inexperienced Ciaron Brown were at the heart of the back four and, while neither made any major mistakes, it was a difficult evening on which to shine.

Flanagan misplaced a few passes early on but he also showed ambition by carrying the ball out from the back, delivering a fine cross midway through the first half that nobody was able to get on the end of.

Of course, Baraclough does have the option of moving Michael Smith into the back three, which would provide an opportunity for perhaps one of captain-for-the-night Niall McGinn, Gavin Whyte or Jordan Jones to play right wing-back.

All three played behind lone striker Kyle Lafferty against Estonia, but the former Rangers frontman never looked like ending an international goal drought that has now stretched to 27 matches.

He was replaced up front by Dion Charles early in the second half and the Accrington forward's energy, strength and willingness to run is likely to have made a mark with Baraclough, even if he is likely to once again deploy Shayne Lavery and Conor Washington as his front two.

Alfie McCalmont made his first start for Northern Ireland as part of the two-man midfield pivot with Liam Donnelly and the 21-year-old Morcambe loanee showed no nerves, was tidy in possession and industrious throughout.

Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley came on at right-back late on and he too looked at home as a senior international, showing great technique for a volley from distance that went wide before an excellent run and cutback to set up Ferguson for that second shot.

Ferguson himself may feel he has an outside chance of starting against Switzerland after his wonder goal, though Newcastle's Lewis is likely to retain his place despite not enjoying his best spell currently.