Malta 2-4 Northern Ireland: What did we learn from Michael McArdle’s first two games in charge?

While McArdle will be satisfied with what he has managed to extract from his players in a short space of time, he will know there are still areas of improvement.

The caveat of NI’s two impressive performances is that they came against a Malta side ranked 39 places below them in the world rankings.

Tougher tests are round the corner in June with a must-win game away to Turkey and a home fixture against the top seeds Switzerland.

McArdle will want his side to tighten up defensively for those games given they handed Malta multiple opportunities home and away, which a better side may have punished more.

Jackie Burns made one big save in the second half of the home game – denying Haley Bugeja’s goal bound effort by tipping it onto the crossbar.

She thwarted Bugeja again on Saturday while NI gave away two poor goals with poor defending from the corner in which Maria Farrugia netted, and a defensive mix-up allowing Leah Ayres to net a consolation.

McArdle will know they can ill-afford similar slip-ups in June, but, given the work he has done already to fix a misfiring attack, he will be confident he can shore up a defence and help NI build on the solid foundations laid in his first two games.