Travel woes in Croatia will motivate NI in Play-Off second leg: Tanya Oxtoby

Oxtoby hit out at the sub-standard training facilities afforded to her team for the first leg in Croatia. A session scheduled before the team was due to fly home on Saturday was cancelled, while the a pre-match work out in the match stadium was delayed when the floodlights weren’t turned on.

The tie is in the balance ahead of the decisive second meeting at Windsor Park tonight after last Friday’s 1-1 draw in Varazdin — a result that won praise from Oxtoby having been achieved in the face of adversity.

“It wasn’t ideal in terms of the preparation, but we weren’t going to let it affect ultimately the performance and the result so it’s a credit to the staff and to the players because we can only focus on the bits that we can adapt,” said Oxtoby.

“We hold ourselves to a really high standard and we’re not going to drop those for anybody.

“Logistically it was a really tough trip. I spoke about professional courtesy and I think there is a fundamental piece there around the basics that are required, so when those aren’t met that’s very frustrating.

“We pushed on with it and we’re in a great position now coming home with a clean slate and I think a lot of the stuff that happened during the week has just motivated us even more.”