CIARON Brown says that Northern Ireland are focused on winning their UEFA Nations League group, knowing that a play-off for the World Cup would be the ultimate prize.

Northern Ireland began their Nations League campaign with a win at home to Luxembourg and a defeat in Bulgaria last month.

The next tasks for the Green and White Army are a trip to Belarus tomorrow night and a home clash against Bulgaria on Tuesday.

Northern Ireland, in League C, can be promoted to League B if they win their group, which would also present a 2026 World Cup play-off spot if Michael O’Neill’s side don’t make it through the regular qualifying process.

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Oxford United defender Brown told this newspaper: “At the moment, there is no international game which is just a nothing game. Every game means everything.

“The Nations League can give you an opportunity in a play-off, but it also gives you an opportunity to go up a pot, so you end up being a bigger team in the group, instead of one of the smaller teams in the bigger groups.

“Our view will be to try and win the group and secure ourselves a play-off through it.

“They’re competitive games and you want to win them because you want to put yourself in the best opportunity to qualify for the next tournament.”

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Going away with Northern Ireland limits Brown’s opportunity for a rest during the season, and during the previous campaign, he played 59 games in total, including five for his country.

He said: “I don’t mind, you just stay in the rhythm of it, whereas some boys might have a few days off to chill out and forget.

“I just carry on and stay in the rhythm of playing every couple of days.

“I enjoy seeing my teammates over there. It’s a change of scenery, I enjoy the group, and I enjoy playing international football, so I’m never going to complain about going.

“We’re a very young group, but a group that’s getting a lot of experience quickly because of how close we are together and the ability that we have is getting the experience as a team together, and we’re trying to progress that way.”

Northern Ireland typically play with a back three, with Brown lining up on the left-hand side of the central defenders, and it allows him to get an alternative view on the game.

He said: “We play a three, and it’s obviously a bit different from when we play here, so you see different tactics and different views of the game.

“They ask you to do different things than maybe what you’re asked here, so it’s about seeing different views of how people see the game.”