Kyle Lafferty praises Northern Ireland display after win over Finland

Kyle Lafferty hailed an "excellent" team performance after his double edged Northern Ireland closer to Euro 2016 qualification with a 2-1 victory over Finland.

The 27-year-old striker volleyed in a brilliant opener after 33 minutes and then doubled the advantage shortly afterwards with a header to take his tally to five goals from five games.

Finland pulled a goal back in second-half stoppage-time but Northern Ireland held on to remain a point behind Group F leaders Romania at the halfway stage.

“Obviously it's all going right for me at the minute and I'm enjoying it,” Lafferty told Sky Sports. “The first goal, I decided to hit it first time and luckily it went in.

"But it's down to the team, everyone was excellent today. Although I'm getting the goals and the rewards you have to look at the team performance."

The two goals take Lafferty into second on his country's all-time leading scorer list ahead of Colin Clarke and Billy Gillespie.

It also cements Northern Ireland’s place in second in the group ahead of a crucial home match against Romania.

“It was obviously nervous but we deserved to win the game,” added Lafferty. “It was excellent today, the attitude, the heart and the team performance."

Defender Jonny Evans, currently serving a six-match ban for Manchester United for spitting, was delighted to be able to contribute for his team.

"It was great to be out there and especially to get the win," he said. "We ground out the result and Kyle scored two great goals.

"It puts us in a really good position going into June, we play Romania here and it'll be a top-of-the-group clash."