NI have come on 'leaps and bounds' - Oxtoby

Tanya Oxtoby has won seven of her 18 games in charge of Northern Ireland

It's almost a year to the day since Northern Ireland were beaten 6-1 at Windsor Park by the Republic of Ireland to end their inaugural Nations League campaign.

At that stage there were more questions than answers about what direction the team were heading under Tanya Oxtoby, who had taken over in August 2023.

They had shown signs in that Nations League campaign of promise, albeit in fits and starts for the majority rather than stringing together a 90-minute performance.

But now, a year on, there is no doubt NI are a team on the rise, even if they fell at the final hurdle of reaching back-to-back European Championships after a 7-0 aggregate play-off final defeat by Norway.

They end 2024 with a record of played 12, won five, drawn three and lost four, showing they could break down stubborn defences home and away and be clinical with their chances.

There are even caveats for the four defeats; Portugal home and away and Norway home and away, two sides ranked considerably higher than NI in the Fifa rankings.

And boss Oxtoby was happy to reflect on the progress after a full year of fixtures.

"I've said 120 times we are on a journey and every time we play and challenge ourselves, our girls get better," she told BBC Sport NI.

"We are proud of where we started to where we are now, and we want to continue on that journey."

'Mindset' shift key to NI success

What has pleased Oxtoby even more is that her side have been learning on the job in games that matter as all 18 of her games in charge have been competitive fixtures.

"I still haven't had a friendly yet! We have had to learn and develop in competitive environments which accelerates the learning but at times we are going to get found out," she continued.

"It's a credit to the staff and the players over the last 14 months to get to where we are and everyone can have a well-earned break over Christmas and we can regather ahead of next year."

Oxtoby was keen to highlight the mindset shift of her players as something that has greatly developed over the year.

"The most pleasing part is the culture we are building with this team. You look at the way they respond to adversity and the way they come together when they need to and that has taken time to build," Oxtoby explained.

"I can't ask for more as a manager. That growth mindset is exceptional and that will hold us in good stead for next year."

Northern Ireland are next in action in February when they begin their Nations League campaign against Poland

Speaking of next year and NI will just have Nations League action to look forward to after their play-off defeat.

Few gave NI any chance of upsetting Norway, who last failed to qualify for the Euros in 1983, but their performances across the two legs would really be the barometer of how far they had come.

And Oxtoby thinks that the display at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo despite their 3-0 loss has given them plenty to build on for when they next meet up in February.

"We wanted to use this game [the second leg] as a platform for next year, we could have come here and sat in deep and played out the 90 minutes but we didn't," she added.

"We want to play the good teams we want to see where we are at and what we need to improve on and the areas we have accelerated in.

"There are leaps and bounds in terms of improvement every window and when we review this window, I have no doubt it will be the same."