Northern Ireland: Danish defeat two years ago offered glimpse into future of Michael O’Neill’s side.

Back then, Northern Ireland were in the middle of a run of just three wins in 16 fixtures and O’Neill said after the game that he was “not thinking about [tournament] qualification” but instead simply “about putting points on the board”.

Since, the goalposts have moved with three defeats in 13 games, a run that began with a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture with Denmark, raising hopes that O’Neill could lead a second squad to a major tournament.

With this window, where Northern Ireland will also host Iceland in Belfast on 10 June, representing the final games before qualification for the 2026 World Cup begins in September, the return to Copenhagen offers an interesting yardstick to measure progress.

With Bradley and Crystal Palace’s Justin Devenny the only players in O’Neill’s panel to have featured in the Premier League this season, their hosts on Saturday, ranked 21st in the Fifa world rankings, will contain a plethora of players drawn from Europe’s top leagues.

In Northern Ireland’s last outing, an injury-hit panel struggled in a 5-1 defeat to Sweden when the top-flight quality of Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak proved especially telling.

With Germany in their four-team group to make it to Canada, Mexico and the USA next summer, there is clearly a need for more regular exposure to higher level of opposition.

Two years ago a callow side almost pulled off a shock draw. Saturday offers the opportunity to show how far along the path that same group have come since then.