No surprises for Shea Charles as he looks to a big 2025 for Northern Ireland

Shea Charles is hoping Northern Ireland can carry their form from the last 12 months into 2025 with the World Cup qualifiers looming on the horizon.

In their nine games so far this calendar year they have won five and lost only twice, one of those against European Championship winners Spain.

Confidence is high amongst Michael O'Neill's talented young squad, who are on the brink of promotion from Nation League C3 following the 2-0 win over Belarus on Friday night.

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A point in Luxembourg on Monday night will see Northern Ireland win the group and Charles said he's not surprised they are hitting the levels they are. "I think it's not too surprising, it might be to some people outside but I've always known how good some of the players are in this team," said the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder.

"We're all playing at our clubs now and that is really important. We're all coming into camp with a lot of confidence. We all trust each other. We're a very tight group which is always very important and I feel like that shows on the pitch.

"It was always going to take time with a really young team, especially from our last qualifying campaign, but now we've gelled recently, we've managed to get goals and keep clean sheets which is really important.

"It's hard to say what we can achieve but hopefully we can carry on winning games going into next year, and hopefully continue our form which we've had in 2024."

It was a special night for Charles on Friday as he led Northern Ireland out for the very first time as his friends and family cheered him and his brother Pierce on from the stands.

"It was a bit surreal walking out to that atmosphere," he said. "It was crazy, and to me and having my brother right behind me, it was really special. l know mum will be really proud of that. She was in the crowd with some of my family."

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