Leeds United's Alfie McCalmont among crop of young players at the centre of Ian Baraclough's Northern Ireland 'rebuild'

Baraclough has come under heavy criticism this international recess as the Green and White Army's winless Nations League run has been extended to 14 games.

In the last fortnight, Northern Ireland - the top seeded team in their Nations League group - have suffered two defeats and twice been held to a draw by Cyprus, who are 105th in the FIFA World rankings.

In response to booing and calls of 'we want Bara out' at Windsor Park on Sunday afternoon, Baraclough defended his players' efforts as they came from 2-0 down to claim a point against the Mediterranean nation.

"There's massive character in there, and that's been there for for a while," said Baraclough, who took over from Michael O'Neill in June 2020.

"But then when you bring in new players, they have to learn how to do that as well. And the young boys in the team have grown up very quickly in the last fortnight.

One such youngster is Whites midfielder McCalmont, who was recalled to the national side by Baraclough after dropping down to the Under 21s following his full senior debut in September 2021.

McCalmont, who has just spent the season on loan at League One side Morecambe, joins 18-year-olds Shea Charles and Brodie Spencer among a group of young players that Baraclough, former Northern Ireland's Under 21s coach, hopes will be the future of the national team.

Though McCalmont didn't leave the bench this month, Baraclough hopes that the experience will prove beneficial to the 22-year-old.

"We're in a rebuilding period, where we've brought in players that hadn't even met each other before, didn't even expect to be in the Under 21s, a couple of them," Baraclough said.

"And now the elevation from the Under 19s to senior football is massive - they've not even played senior a football at their clubs... you're asking them to then go and do a man's job.

"They've got to learn. Unless we give them this experience - they're not going to be learning for years to come.

"So we're exposing them to tough times. You're building characters as well."

McCalmont - who has twice appeared for the Whites' senior team - must wait until September, when Northern Ireland face Nations League ties against Greece and Kosovo, for another chance to earn an international cap.