Northern Ireland and Latvia have played out a goalless first half in their friendly fixture at Windsor Park this evening.

The hosts could have grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the game when a failed clearance fell kindly to Stuart Dallas, who could only fire high and wide of the goal from around 20 yards out.

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Latvia appeared a touch shaky in the opening half, and Vitalijs Jagodinskis had his goalkeeper to thank as he almost turned a poor clearance into his own goal, but for the heroics of Andris Vanins.

Northern Ireland almost came unstuck after 30 minutes had been played, but Michael McGovern was dealt a reprieve when a shot from Juris Laizans deflected kindly into space despite some difficulties caused by the muddy surface.

The home side should have taken the lead just before the break when Kyle Lafferty broke free of the Latvian defence, only to send his effort wide of the target with Jamie Ward also an unmarked option in the centre of the box.