Kenny Shiels: NI boss says 'women are more emotional than men'

Kenny Shiels has led Northern Ireland to their first European Championship this summer

Northern Ireland manager Kenny Shiels says women's teams are more likely to concede goals in clusters as "women are more emotional than men".

Shiels said teams letting in another goal very quickly after conceding a first was a pattern "right through the whole spectrum of the women's game".

His team needed to get "that emotional imbalance out of their heads", he said.

The defeat by the Lionesses in Belfast means Northern Ireland cannot qualify for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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Northern Ireland were playing in front of a crowd of 15,348 at Windsor Park - a record for a women's match in the country.

England went 1-0 up in the 26th minute but had to wait until the 52nd minute to add a second.

"I felt [England] were struggling a wee bit at times to open us up until the psychology of going 2-0 up in the women's game," said Shiels.

"I'm sure you will have noticed if you go through the patterns - when a team concedes a goal, they concede a second one in a very, very short space of time. Right through the whole spectrum of the women's game, because girls and women are more emotional than men. So, they take a goal going in not very well.

"When we went 1-0 down we tried to slow it down to give them time to get that emotional imbalance out of their heads. That's an issue we have.

"Not just in Northern Ireland but all of the countries in the world."

The Irish Football Association has been approached for comment.