Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill will hope Isaac Price can shine during the World Cup Play-Offs

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill will hope Isaac Price can shine during the World Cup Play-Offs

A certain, if inevitable, academic air may have swept over Monday night’s final World Cup qualifying Group A meeting between Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.

Crucially, though, the 1-0 win at Windsor Park for the men in green at least proved a necessary, if not exactly revelatory, exercise for Michael O’Neill.