10 minutes played and there's not been a lot to shout about.

Ian Baraclough's men are seeing plenty of the ball but have yet to carve out a clear-cut chance.

Kyle Lafferty’s last goal for Northern Ireland came back in November 2016 against Azerbaijan.

He has since gone 19 hours and 15 minutes of international football without scoring, could this be the night that that damning statistic finally changes?

Postpublished at 17:09 British Summer Time 5 June 2022

17:09 BST 5 June 2022

Cyprus 0-0 Northern Ireland

Paddy McNair and Grigoris Kastanos thunder together and both men are on the deck as they gather their breath.

Cyprus are looking dangerous on the counter here and spray the ball wide to Nicholas Ioannou on the left but his cross is overhit into the stand behind.

It's a glorious evening in Larnaca and several of the 600 Northern Ireland fans have their taps aff.

Northern Ireland launch a ball into the box but it's well cleared by the blue shirts.

Ioannis Pittas curls an effort wide after the ball broke kindly for him on the edge of the area.

That's an early warning sign.

Off we go!

600 Northern Ireland fans have made the trip to Cyprus and they'll be hoping to witness Northern Ireland's first-ever Nations League win.

They've brought the noise!

Image source, Press Eye

If the previous encounters between these two nations are anything to go by, tonight will be another tight game in the Larnaca heat.

The two recent meetings have ended goalless and Kyle Lafferty, Niall McGinn and Steven Davis are the only three current members of the squad who featured in the 0-0 draw in a 2014 friendly.

In fact, Cyprus have only ever scored one goal against Northern Ireland in the seven times they've faced each other.

The teams are out and it's time for the anthems.

BBC Sounds

You can listen to the game live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Foyle DAB from 17:00 BST.

Joel Taggart is joined in studio by Jim Magilton and Warren Feeney, who should provide plenty of character and stories.

Michael McNamee and John O'Neill are on commentary duty for tonight's game.

Mark Sterling
BBC Sport NI

He has never been far from the headlines and, having been the focus of much attention in the build-up to the Greece game, Kyle Lafferty now gets his big chance from the start for Northern Ireland.

You could feel the lift he gave the team - and the crowd - when he came on for the final half an hour on Thursday night - and Ian Baraclough obviously sensed it too.

He takes Shayne Lavery's place up front alongside Gavin Whyte, meaning there will be more a presence in the front pair.

Baraclough finished in a 4-3-3 formation against the Greeks but it looks like he will once again start with his favoured 3-5-2 as Man City teenager Shea Charles gets his first start after coming on for his debut during the week.

The English-born 18-year-old has generated a lot of excitement recently and he is given a midfield role this evening, to the right of captain Steven Davis with George Saville to the left.

Ciaron Brown comes into the back three with Jonny Evans and Paddy McNair as Dan Ballard drops out and it's experience over youth at right wing-back with Niall McGinn coming in for Conor Bradley, while Paddy Lane keeps his place on the left.

A lot of talk during the build-up to this Nations League quadruple-header has focused on the physical demands that four games in 10 days makes on the players at the end of the season.

Indeed, Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough has been critical himself of what is a challenging schedule for his squad.

However, one man swimming against the tide in that respect is Jonny Evans. The 34-year-old defender had an injury-interrupted season with Leicester City and says he is feeling fresh for these games.

Read more of his thoughts here.

Image source, Pacemaker

There wasn't too much to cheer about for Northern Ireland supporters against Greece on Thursday night.

Amid the gloom, however, Man City teenager Shea Charles came off the bench to make his senior international debut.

The hype has been building around the English-born 18-year-old for some time - and he has an appetite to make a lot more appearances in green and white, as he explains here.

And he's got his wish as he makes his first start tonight!

Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland

Ian Baraclough has made four changes from Thursday's defeat by Greece, with the headline news that Manchester City's Shea Charles is handed his first start.

Kyle Lafferty - looking his first international goal since 2016 - also starts up front with Niall McGinn and Ciaron Brown also coming into the team.

Dan Ballard is missing from the squad while Conor Bradley, Shayne Lavery and Ali McCann dropping to the bench.

Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell, McNair, Evans, Brown, Lane, Saville, Davis, Charles, McGinn, Whyte, Lafferty.

Subs: Southwood, Carson, Bradley, Spencer, Lavery, Charles, Boyd-Munce, McCalmont, McMenamin, A McCann, Donnelly, C McCann.

Right, who wants some team news?

The assessment of Thursday night wasn't great from Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough....

Ian Baraclough rarely struggles to find a positive in any performance, but the Northern Ireland manager was honest about the disappointment felt in the squad at losing their opening game to Greece.

Always a good communicator in media briefings, he found himself defending his two-year record when he appeared before journalists on the day before the game.

The need for patience with the youngsters and his players' ability to cope with the pressure were two of the themes discussed - read more about what he said here.

Image source, Pacemaker

There were a lot of factors involved, of course, but Thursday certainly wasn't the 'big Windsor Park night' that Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough had called for beforehand.

He'd also called for four wins from these first four games, but that hope didn't last long.

Our reporter Mark Sterling was at the game - read some of his and Baraclough's thoughts on a low-key evening here.

Image source, Pacemaker

It wasn't just Northern Ireland that opened their Nations League campaign is disappointing fashion - the Republic of Ireland also suffered a bad loss.

Stephen Kenny's men went down 1-0 in Armenia against a side ranked 45 places below them.

Eduard Spertsyan's goal for the League B newcomers ended the Republic's eight-game unbeaten run - read the thoughts of manager Kenny here.