Northern Ireland: Dion Charles and Callum Marshall offer ray of hope in goal search

Dion Charles made his Northern Ireland debut in March 2021

Scoring goals. It is said to be the most difficult thing in football, and it has certainly been a major problem for Northern Ireland for some time.

How to get the team scoring more goals would no doubt have been high in Michael O'Neill's in-tray when he returned to manage his country for a second spell in December. Indeed, it was one of the first questions put to him upon his appointment.

Almost a year on, and the issue remains unresolved. Apart from five goals across two wins over San Marino - the world's lowest-ranked team - Northern Ireland have scored two goals in their other six Euro 2024 qualifying games.

They both came in a chaotic 4-2 defeat in Slovenia, with O'Neill's men losing the other five matches 1-0. Chances have been created in all of those games, making the team's inability to find the back of the net on a regular basis all the more frustrating.

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It is an Achilles heel that pre-dates the current manager, as he quite rightly pointed out at that initial press conference. In fact, one Belfast Telegraph match report back in 2003 light-heartedly suggested there was a danger children In Northern Ireland could grow up thinking that they lived in a country called 'Northern Ireland Nil' as the team went through a 12-match goal drought.

There situation is nowhere near as grave currently, but it does provide some context to the recurring nature of the problem.

Responsibility for scoring goals does not rest solely on the strikers, of course, but are they burdened by the pressure of the ongoing narrative?

Not at all, according to Bolton Wanderers marksman Dion Charles.

"That's something I thrive on, proving people wrong," the 28-year-old said when asked if he feels extra pressure when people talk about Northern Ireland not having a natural goalscorer.

"To me, being a goalscorer is what I want to be as a striker. I'm fairly new and inexperienced but I feel with more games under my belt and more minutes on the pitch I will be able to prove what I can do.

"I came into international football late in my career. I was playing non-league football in England not too long ago so I've had to work hard to get to where I am. I've seen the benefits of that."

Charles' two goals for NI came on his first start in March

He added: "We [the strikers in the squad] don't talk about the lack of goals. We talk about how to improve our game, about how to give ourselves the best opportunity of scoring goals."

Full of confidence from having scored more than 20 goals for Bolton last season and following that up with 11 so far this campaign, Charles' thoughts are refreshing for Northern Ireland fans wondering if the goals will ever begin to flow freely again.

"By no means am I the finished article," continued Charles, who scored his first, and so far only, Northern Ireland goals when he was twice on target in the 2-0 win away to San Marino in the Euro campaign opener in March.

"I pride myself on improving every game and working hard off the pitch to get myself there and if I don't get there it won't be through lack of trying. I won't let it be said that I don't want it enough.

"In every game I play I run myself into the ground for my club and my country. I came into the professional game late. This is my fourth or fifth season and if you look at my goalscoring record, I'm hitting 20 goals every season so it is going well at the moment."

Charles, who was left on the bench for October's two qualifiers, also gave an insight into the difficulties players face in trying to transfer good goalscoring form at club level to the international stage.

"We only meet up a few times a year so it's trying to get that understanding sooner - what sort of runs do strikers like to make and what sort of balls the midfielders like playing. With the time together, I think that will help us."

We can't put a burden on Marshall - O'Neill

NI manager Michael O'Neill is excited by Callum Marshall's potential

While Charles' optimism might not have been expected by the Green and White Army, one ray of hope in the striking department that they have been getting quietly excited about for some time is West Ham United teenager Callum Marshall.

The 18-year-old has been in lethal form this season, scoring 16 goals in 10 appearances for the Hammers' Under 21s, including three against senior teams in the EFL Trophy.

O'Neill called him up to the senior side in June, despite him having never played for the West Ham first time, and he thought he had grabbed a dramatic, injury-time equaliser on his debut off the bench against Denmark in Copenhagen, only for it to be ruled out after a lengthy VAR check.

He was back in the squad in October, when O'Neill spoke very enthusiastically about his potential and attitude, and is involved again for this double-header away to Finland and at home to the Danes.

O'Neill went as far as to suggest last month that he could be the most natural finisher Northern Ireland have had since record goalscorer David Healy who, like Marshall, played for his country before making his club bow with Manchester United.

And Marshall was a topic of conversation again when O'Neill announced his latest squad.

"Callum is a young lad, very talented but he is in that situation where it is difficult to get minutes at first-team level," O'Neill said.

"The next step might be a loan move in January, clubs will be knocking the door down to get him.

"We have to be realistic and not put too much of a burden on him in these games. He has looked dangerous when he has come off the bench, but it's probably better for a young player to come into a game when it's less structured and frantic.

"When we are chasing the game there are opportunities. Physically, there is more growth in him needed to play through the middle on his own.

"But his performances in the EFL Trophy have been good, we have watched all of those games and he has performed well in senior football, at a lower level.

"The key for Callum is to keep doing what he is doing - he has a great attitude to the game and it's a real positive having him in the squad, he brings a real edge to training as well."

That positivity, along with similar from Charles, might just lead to a regular flow of goals for Northern Ireland.