NORTHERN IRELAND will likely need to do what Scotland couldn’t if they are get a positive result in their first ever European Championships game: stop Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich man, ranked among the greatest strikers in world football right now, will supply Poland’s biggest goal threat when the two nations meet this afternoon in the opening game in Group C.

Lewandowski scored a double at Hampden last October – one very late into injury time – to end Scotland’s chances of joining the other home nations in France this summer, two of 13 he managed throughout the qualifying campaign when he finished as leading scorer in the competition. On their Euro bow and first appearance at a major finals since the 1986 World Cup, Northern Ireland will look to nullify the threat of Lewandowski and supply service to their own talismanic striker – Kyle Lafferty – who has passed a fitness test.

Manager Michael O’Neill was reluctant to focus solely on just one opponent but felt that he had defenders more than capable of coping with Lewandowski on a big evening for the province in Nice.

“We’ve had four weeks to work on it,” said the former Brechin City manager. “We dissected our opponents’ game. In training, for example, we wore jerseys with the name of the Polish players on them so our players knew who to pick up at set plays. So we’re prepared. Our central defenders are playing in the Premier League. At clubs like West Brom or Watford they are used to playing against the best. So they will have no fears over Lewandowski having played against Olivier Giroud, Diego Costa and the rest last season. But Lewandowski is a top striker, one of the two best centre forwards in the world.

“He is as important for Poland as Zlatan Ibrahimovic is for Sweden. But there are others in the Polish team who can threaten us like Arkadiusz Milik, Kuba Blaszczykowski, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Kamil Grosicki.”

O’Neill was pleased that Lafferty had recovered from the groin injury sustained in training earlier in the week but chose to emphasise the need for Northern Ireland to perform as a collective, suggesting all of the 23-man squad could be involved at some point.

“I will choose the strongest team for this game,” he added. “But I have been impressed with all my players, even those who may already know that they won’t play in this game. But I told them from the beginning that we have at least three matches in this tournament, we have a 23-man squad and everyone is important, whether they play in every game or just five minutes here and there.”

Northern Ireland are expected to be backed by 15,000 travelling fans and O’Neill predicted his players would rise to the occasion.

“It's a new experience for us all so we’re excited. We’ve got a phenomenal support behind us and we are proud to be here. Again, a lot of my players have great experience of playing in the Premier League so they know what it is to play in big games.

“I don't think there's a need for a final message. I think they understand the significance of the game. The preparation we've done has been flawless, basically. I don't think I've ever felt that a team has been as well prepared in the four years I've been in charge in terms of what we've managed to do with the squad, the work we've done week after week, how the players have taken that on board.”

Lukasz Fabianski, meanwhile, believes playing against Scotland in qualifying will stand Poland in good stead for their Northern Irish test. "I have not really analysed their games a lot,” the goalkeeper said. "But I guess it will be proper physical football, a lot of set-pieces which will tough to defend. We will be expecting a lot of intensity and passion from Northern Ireland. We have been lucky that we played against Scotland and the Republic of Ireland in the qualifiers. So we know what to expect from Northern Ireland."

Fabianski also extolled the virtues of team-mate Lewandowski. "He's our captain, our leader and our goal-scoring machine," said the Swansea player. "We really rely on him a lot, but the way we are set up as a team is good because it gives us possibilities to score goals. If he keeps his form then we should not be worried at all. But I would say we have other offensive options too because Milik, Grosicki and Blaszczykowski are dangerous players who give us goals too.”

In the other Group C match, world champions Germany take on Ukraine, while in the opening Group D contest Turkey face Croatia.