NORTHERN Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has called on supporters to get behind co-hosting Euro 2028 matches at Casement Park following a protest chant at the weekend.

Chants of “you can shove your Casement Park up your hole” echoed around Windsor Park during a match against San Marino on Saturday afternoon. A banner reading ‘no Casement’ was also hung from a stand during the match.

The chant came just days after it was confirmed that the redeveloped Casement Park with a capacity of 34,500 will host Euro 2028 games after a joint-bid from the UK and Ireland was successful.

Speaking ahead of another game on Tuesday night at Windsor Park against Slovenia, Michael O'Neill said he would like to see everyone back the European Championship finals coming to Belfast in 2028.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion on it," he said.

"This is obviously what the Association have done in terms of the bid. There’s a lot of opinion on that and we have to take that into account.

“Supporters of course are equally as important as anyone in this situation. I can’t change it. I don’t know how many times I’m going to be asked it but I can’t change the situation as it stands at the minute going forward to 2028.

“I would like to see it (Euro 2028 coming to Belfast) supported. As I’ve said before I think it is really important that we get the opportunity to play and be a host nation but equally I respect the opinion of everyone in terms of what their view may or may not be on it.”

Addressing the chant, O’Neill said: “No, I don’t think it affects the team directly but it means they are not saying something positive about the team for example. They are not singing ‘Green and White Army’, they are singing something else.

“It can affect the atmosphere in the stadium possibly but it didn’t give me any great concern during the game to be honest.

“As I say the big thing is to back the team. The young players want to play in a positive atmosphere and I think hopefully people see a lot of them are trying to do the right things. It’s big for them all. You sense that for all the younger ones when they come to play, particularly the lads who come to us through eligibility and their families are over for the games.

“This has been such a positive place to play since the stadium has been redeveloped and I think we should hang on to that.”

Asked about a potential repeat of the Casement chants during the Slovenian match, O’Neill said: “There is not much I can do about it so why would it bother me?

"It’s a bit like saying if there is someone sitting behind the dug-out shouting abuse at me, there is nothing I can do about that either so I’ll focus on what I can do with the team and be positive with the team.

“One thing I have learnt after 30-odd years in the game as both a player and a manager is that you have no control over what people shout when they come to a football match.

"You just have to live with that and deal with that and that’s what we will do. Hopefully we will get a positive performance and a positive atmosphere in the stadium.”