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Ian Baraclough feels that Josh Magennis’ sacking in the Northern Ireland Nations League draw with Romania was “tough, but we have to live with that.”
Magennis received two yellow cards for challenges in the air, but NI chief Baraclough argued that similar incidents occurred “throughout the park.”
Already with a goal through George Puskas, NI dug deep and won a point thanks to a late draw from Gavin Whyte.
“There is no blame for Josh, it is just the referee’s interpretation,” he said.
Hull City forward Magennis was sent off in the 38th minute and goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell was in inspired form to keep the visitors in the game.
Baraclough was proud of the stamina of his players in Bucharest when substitutes Kyle Lafferty and Whyte drew a tie in the 86th minute to secure Northern Ireland’s first point in the Nations League.
“We felt like they were always going to try to go for a second and that would give us opportunities,” he said.
“The guys had to recover, go into halftime and we were able to reorganize ourselves a bit.
“We knew it was going to be key with the changes and fresh legs, having an impact from the bench and all the guys certainly did.”
In his first game as successor to Michael O’Neill, Baraclough feels his team was “a little desperate to get it right” in the early stages despite the lack of physical condition throughout the team.
“There was always going to be a bit of rust,” added the Englishman.
“We only have Davo [Steven Davis] he’d been playing a few games, and some of the boys hadn’t kicked a ball in anger since March.
“Dan Ballard was playing his first game in more than a year since major surgery, so the way the guys have done it makes me very proud.”
