Another mission impossible where he'll find a way

DONT RULE OUT A CLASSIC O'NEILL HEIST

- GARRY DOYLE

MICHAEL O'NEILL has never been afraid of a fight.

He built his reputation by walking into stadiums where Northern Ireland weren't supposed to win - and then finding a way to make them believe they could.

Go back to 2015, when his side went to Budapest and beat Hungary.

Or that famous night in Piraeus when they stood toe-to-toe with Greece.

Or Euro 2016 when Ukraine wilted and the Green and White Army became Kings of Lyon.

Across his first and second spells in charge, O'Neill's Northern Ireland have never been the most gifted but have always been the most awkward.

Now, he’s aiming to make life difficult again.

This time the names are different - Gareth McAuley and Steven Davis replaced by Conor Bradley and Trai Hume - but the storyline remains the same.

Slovakia are favourites, the venue in Kosice unfamiliar, the odds tilted the wrong way.

Yet there's something about O'Neill in this position - back to the wall, no one watching, everyone expecting defeat - that tends to bring out his best work.

He calls it pragmatism. Josh Magennis had a different word for it: “Belief”

“He makes us see what's possible,” the veteran striker said.