ONE goal, two goals – or a free goal? Jamie Ward joked that Switzerland should grant Northern Ireland that last option straightaway this evening given the controversial nature of their penalty in the first leg.
However, the Nottingham Forest forward accepts that won't happen and instead the visitors to Basle may well have to take option two – at least.
"We know what we have to do now," acknowledged Ward about this World Cup play-off second leg: "We can't go out there and look to get a 0-0 draw, we have to go out there and get at least two goals.
"At the end of the day we'll still come back home as heroes and the fans will always still love us, so what will be will be, but the fans will know that we'll have given it our all."
Apart from goal that resulted, another annoying aspect of the penalty award in the first leg was that the Swiss were clearly running out of patience and ideas, irked by their failure to score despite plentiful possession, with centre back Fabian Schar shooting wildly over the from long distance less than a minute before Corry Evans was penalised.
"You could obviously see they were getting frustrated," recalled Ward, "but then on the other side they go and get that bit of luck, which sometimes you need - but hopefully they'll let us have a free goal in the first minute to even it up and make it a fair game."
On a more serious note, Ward consigned the debatable refereeing decisions to the past, saying: "It was hard luck on the penalty, but what can we do about it now? Nothing. We have got 90 minutes to go and change it.
"There were probably two clear decisions in the game; the first five minutes the tackle on Stuarty [Stuart Dallas] was reckless and could have been a red card quite easily, and then obviously the penalty.
"Now we have to just get over it, we have got a game where we have to go out there and win it."
The 30-year-old, believes that having to be more positive will suit Northern Ireland, taking comfort from the closing stages of the first match in Belfast:
"When we got on the front foot we obviously looked a lot better. I don't think we can go and sit in, I don't think we're that type of team that can sit in and soak up pressure, we need to be on the front foot and obviously nine times out of 10 we aren't going to have 60 or 70 per cent of the ball, so when we get it we have to be patient."
Ward has had to show that quality himself, including on Thursday night, with his return to international action after injuries taking longer than he expected:
"It was great to be back but it was frustrating not starting, I thought I was all week, but then when Michael's named the team, it was disappointing, but I think that's understandable. If I'm not disappointed then I shouldn't play the game but we have to get that green shirt on and just go for it."
Doubts over Dallas, who limped off early in the second half at Windsor Park, could see Ward replacing him from the outset tonight. However, the left-sided Shane Ferguson is also a contender to come in, given that there's still only one goal in thte tie, so the visitors do not need to attack from the first whistle.
Manager Michael O'Neill may also mull over his centre-forward choice, although Ward feels he has two good options there:
"Conor [Washington]'s great going in behind, he's like a little bull. His hold-up play is really good for someone who is quite little but he's really strong, so it's always good to see him on the pitch.
"But obviously Laffs [(Kyle Lafferty] was brilliant for us during the last campaign and hopefully he can find that form again on Sunday for us."
The team in general clearly needs to shoot more, with no shots on target in the first leg, as Ward accepted:
"I think we need to test the keeper more, I don't think we tested him enough. We saw some clips on him earlier in the week and he looked a bit dodgy and we didn't get many shots off at all, or any that I can remember.
"So we just need to test him more, we need to get into their faces and what will be, will be."
The supporters may well sing 'Que sera, sera', but Ward is hoping their songs will help push the team on to a famous victory – and to the World Cup:
"The fans were brilliant [in Belfast], they always are to be fair and we thank them for the support. Hopefully they can keep that up for us and we can give them one more big push and hopefully they can give us one more big push as well.
"All the pressure is on Switzerland, but now it's time for us to really be the underdogs and show what we have shown before and come out and surprise a few people".
