No away fears for Northern Ireland

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David John expects another good display from Northern Ireland in their Euro 2016 qualifier in Romania.


Northern Ireland in Double Chance market v Romania

Both Scotland and the Republic Of Ireland have made solid starts to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaigns and the atmosphere should be electric at Celtic Park when they meet on Friday.

The latter are fresh from a highly creditable draw with Germany last month which sees them only behind Poland in the group on goal difference while the Scots could draw level with them on seven points granted a victory.

The visitors should be full of confidence after John O'Shea's last-gasp equaliser in Gelsenkirchen and three points here could well have them dreaming already of France while leaving the Scots with plenty of work to do.

My gut feeling is that the hosts will prevail though and keep the group bubbling along nicely but a better bet on the night looks to be an in-form Northern Ireland in the Double Chance market on the road in Romania.

Michael O'Neill's side have been a hugely pleasant surprise package in qualification so far with a perfect three from three record that leaves them two points clear at the top of Group F.

It is a record-breaking start for a team that set out on the campaign with the aim of securing third place and a shot at reaching the finals via the play-offs.
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It is still relatively early days but already pundits are starting to talk about booking their ticket automatically with a top-two finish so the hard work for O'Neill really commences now in terms of how he and his players deal with the added pressure of those loftier expectations.

The fact that have two away wins already in Hungary and Greece - both far from pushovers - should instil that added belief within the players with just one goal conceded so far as well.

Romania are breathing down their neck in second after two victories and a draw but find themselves in the odd position of having seen their coach Victor Piturca jump ship for a job in the Middle East at the end of last month so Anghel Iordanescu has stepped in to fill the void.

This is the third time he has taken the job and it is no shock to see he has not made too many changes to an unbeaten outfit for his first outing.

That might not be the case for Northern Ireland as they do have a couple of injury issues to cope with as Jamie Ward is a doubt while Steven Davis is already sidelined so O'Neill has called up untested pair Carl Winchester and Matty Lund as cover.

Davis has been excellent for high-flying Southampton while the lively Ward opened the scoring on the way to victory over the Greeks - both will be big misses.

Nevertheless, in current mood, a small bet on the visitors could pay dividends in what should be a tight contest that can see them take something home and keep them in pole position.

For those looking for a play at short odds, under 2.5 goals makes some sense but at no bigger than 4/7, the bookmakers are hardly expecting the floodgates to open in Bucharest either.