Friday 27 March 2015 17:04, UK
Chris Brunt says Northern Ireland's home form will be the key as they look to secure qualification for Euro 2016.
The Irish face Finland in Sunday's European Group F Qualifier at Windsor Park and Brunt is hoping a win will give Michael O'Neill's men momentum for the remainder of the campaign.
The West Brom midfielder was one of a handful of senior men who missed Wednesday's friendly defeat against Scotland but is set to return to the side with vital points at stake this weekend.
Northern Ireland's players are eyeing their first ever European Championship appearance, but Belfast has not always been a happy hunting ground of late.
O'Neill's first campaign involved just one win from five home fixtures, a run that included disappointing draws against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.
They had a straightforward assignment against the Faroe Islands in October, and now Brunt wants to build momentum against the Finns.
"Our home form wasn't great in the last campaign," Brunt said.
"We have started this campaign well with two away wins, but the home win over the Faroes was also an important result. To build on that would be great.
"In the last few years, those games were the ones that have tended to let us down, so it was nice to get a positive result in October. Hopefully we can take that on and carry it on in our remaining home games.
"We have four home games left in the campaign and if we get as many points out of those as possible, we'll have a great chance of qualifying. Those will determine what happens to us in the rest of the group."
We don't have the biggest squad in the world but we have players who can go out and believe now
Spirits will not have been dampened too much by the 1-0 loss in Glasgow, with O'Neill standing down the likes of Brunt, Gareth McAuley, Kyle Lafferty, Jamie Ward, Niall McGinn and Roy Carroll in favour of fringe players.
They are all likely to return to action against Finland, and goalkeeper Carroll expects them to take the field with a real sense of confidence.
"Michael and the coaching staff have changed players' feelings about going out and performing well," said the Notts County stopper.
"Now we go out thinking we can win every game. I always want to win no matter what team we're playing or how we're doing but for some players maybe belief is much higher than it used to be.
"We don't have the biggest squad in the world but we have players who can go out and believe now."
Watch Northern Ireland face Finland live on Sky Sports on Sunday from 5pm
