Dundee United’s on-loan strike Warren Feeney admits he was totally deflated following Northern Ireland’s inept display in the two goal defeat by Hungary on Wednesday night.

“To say I was disappointed with the result is a bit of an understatement,” he declared,

“Yes it may have only be a friendly, but you still want to get into the habit of winning games,

“Obviously the number of withdrawals we had was bound to have an effect, but there were still good enough players out there to go and give Hungary a game.

“For whatever reason we just didn’t turn up, the only saving grace is that it wasn’t a qualifier.”

The 27-year-old was frustrated not to be picked from the start, but was pleased to eventually get a run-out in the second-half after replacing an out of sorts Kyle Lafferty

“Naturally I was disappointed at not starting the match, but I still enjoy every minute of my time playing for Northern Ireland,” he said.

“I was just unfortunate that the team didn’t play to its potential.

“I felt we did improve in the second-half, but everyone was well below par and the two goals that we gave away were really sloppy.

“We really do need to improve on that performance when we travel to San Marino for our next qualifier in February otherwise we will be in serious trouble.”

Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington also made it abundantly clear to the players at both half-time and after the game what he thought of the teams lacklustre display.

“He told us at the break that we should be embarrassed by our first-half performance and he certainly let us know about it,” added Feeney.

“He said that people pay good money to come and watch us and we don’t perform; it certainly gave the players a lot to think about.”

Like quite a number of the current international squad Feeney has struggled to establish himself at club level this season, however, he explains that is mainly down to picking up a succession of injuries.

“On a personal level it has been a bit stop and start for me this term because of injuries, but thankfully I am now fit and have got back in the side again.” said Feeney who arrived at Tannadice Park on-loan from Cardiff City at the start of the campaign.

“Dundee United is a really good club to be at; Craig Levein is an excellent manager and has guided the club to the semi-finals of the CIS Cup where we play Celtic in January.

“What I need though is to get a good run of games behind me and if I can play well for Dundee United then that can only help me get a regular starting place in the Northern Ireland team.”