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Michael O'Neill led Northern Ireland to the Euro 2016 finals in France

Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has admitted that when he first took the job he doubted the squad's ability to qualify for a major tournament.

Speaking on Colin Murray's At Home podcast, O'Neill said he sought to transform the team's mentality following his appointment in 2011.

O'Neill led NI to Euro 2016, their first tournament since the 1986 World Cup.

"In my heart of hearts, I didn't believe Northern Ireland had a strong enough squad to qualify for a tournament," said O'Neill.

"I didn't think we had enough players at a high enough level to qualify, but I did think we could be competitive."

O'Neill was appointed in December 2011 after leading Shamrock Rovers to successive League of Ireland titles in 2010 and 2011 and the Europa League group stages.

However, the former Newcastle United midfielder inherited a Northern Ireland squad low on confidence after a dismal Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in which the Green and White Army finished fifth in their group with nine points from 10 games.

"I didn't think we should have been finishing fifth, we should at least be pushing for fourth," he said.

After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, O'Neill's side endured a difficult period before the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, failing to win any of their four friendlies against Turkey, Cyprus, Uruguay and Chile.

But O'Neill - whose NI future is uncertain after the Euro 2020 play-off was rescheduled to June because of the coronavirus outbreak - recalls a shift in mindset following a strong start to Euro 2016 qualifying, which included beating Hungary to secure a first away win in four years.

After that Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty struck late to clinch three points in Budapest, NI beat Faroe Islands 2-0 at Windsor Park before a 2-0 success away to Greece to stay two points clear at the top of Group F.

Northern Ireland beat Hungary in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier

"The mindset from that has never changed," added O'Neill.

The 50-year-old, who has been juggling his Northern Ireland managerial duties with Stoke City since being named Potters boss in November, believes the start of Euro 2016 qualifying was a crucial period in his reign.

Not only did it boost confidence, but it helped young players flourish as they were being integrated into a squad with a winning mentality, highlighting Stuart Dallas as a key example.

"Dallas came in, he was in and out of the Brentford team, and I played him against Scotland and then against Finland.

"He did well, and he's never come out of our team since.

"Those players, like Paddy McNair, George Saville and Oliver Norwood, they've played in teams that have threatened to qualify all the time.

"The likes of Steven Davis haven't - they've had to play games when they knew they weren't going to qualify."

'Davis plea resonated with me'

Following the heartache of the 2018 World Cup play-off defeat by Switzerland, O'Neill was strongly linked with succeeding Gordon Strachan as Scotland manager.

However, he rejected the Scottish Football Association's offer to stay with Northern Ireland.

And O'Neill revealed that a plea from NI captain Davis played a part in the decision-making process.

"After the Switzerland game, we were having a beer in the hotel and Davo said 'I don't mind if you go to a club, but you cannot leave to go to Scotland - that's the only thing I ask of you.

"That kind of resonated with me, it's not why I made the decision, but it resonated because it showed that there is that closeness with players."

Listen to O'Neill's wide-ranging interview with Colin Murray as he talks Shamrock Rovers, the ecstasy of the Euros and the heartache of the World Cup play-off.