BELFAST • Joachim Low has demanded a reaction from his young Germany team against Group C leaders Northern Ireland today, after their recent resurgence was cut short by their Euro 2020 qualifying 4-2 loss to the Netherlands.

Having come into the international break on a wave of optimism, his players now travel to Belfast needing a win to keep their qualification campaign on course against a Northern Irish side yet to drop a point in four qualifying matches.

"We need to win, we need to approach the game in such a way that we leave the pitch as winners," the Germany coach said.

Die Mannschaft had just begun to find their feet after a long period of recovery from their disastrous campaign at last year's World Cup.

The group-stage exit in Russia prompted a major generational overhaul, and, after three qualifying wins in a row this year, Low's new-look team were confident of doing the double over the Dutch in Hamburg, having beaten them 3-2 in Amsterdam in March.

They also had not lost a qualifying match for a major tournament since October 2015 and victory over Ronald Koeman's men would have put second-placed Germany nine points clear of their rivals, leaving them on the verge of automatic qualification.

Instead, they now find themselves only three points above the play-off place after a chastening loss in which the defensive frailties that were evident during the World Cup and their dismal Nations League campaign reared their ugly heads again, with the Oranje also having a game in hand.

"We will need to pick the young players up a bit and give them the feeling that they can be stronger. I am sure we will see a reaction on Monday," said Low, who was heavily criticised for playing with a back three and allowing his team to sit deep against the Netherlands.

Vowing to make tactical changes against Michael O'Neill's side at Windsor Park, he added: "Northern Ireland are amazingly robust, they play a lot of long balls.

"They will sit deeper and we will not have much space, so we need to think of something tactically."

However, Low's insistence that he would be able to get Germany's qualifying campaign back on track cut little ice with the local media over the weekend.

Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel warned "lessons must be learnt" from the defeat by the Dutch, while the country's biggest tabloid Bild said "alarm bells" were now ringing, with the team in danger of failing to make a major tournament for the first time since 1968.

While Kicker magazine claimed that there was "no need to panic yet" with five matches to go, Germany captain Manuel Neuer urged his team to guard against complacency as the "Green and White Army" were no pushovers at home.

"We know that anything can happen in football, we experienced that ourselves last year, so it is important we take this game seriously," he told Bild.

"It is not ideal for us to be playing an away game in Belfast right now. They have won all their games so far and it is always difficult to score goals against such opponents."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE