Chris Baird admits that he had a bigger part to play in boosting Northern Ireland’s World Cup hopes than even the player himself could have imagined and now he’s hungry to keep his place.

The Fulham defender was called into action after just 16 minutes on Wednesday night when Gareth McAuley was forced to retire with a hamstring injury.

However, despite the lack of warning Baird gave a virtually flawless performance, with one first half interception standing out in particular.

“Obviously I didn’t expect big Gareth (McAuley) to get injured, but I was delighted to get on and get the three points,” he said.

With just three games left for Nigel Worthington’s men in Group Three Baird believes Wednesday’s win is a sign of Northern Ireland’s increasing belief in themselves.

An indifferent first half was quickly forgotten by Baird and company as they showed they have what it takes to pick up vital victories in tight games.

“The second half was a lot better from us. The first half I though we started really sloppy," he admitted.

“I thought they were the better team going into half-time, not by much, but just enough for them to edge it.

“Nigel spoke to us at half-time and gave us a good talking to and we responded so we’re all delighted. We’ve probably played better than that and got nothing so hopefully things are going for us and we can actually qualify.

“We’ll look forward to Poland know and concentrate on it.”