Dion Charles played 72 minutes as Northern Ireland suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Kazakhstan at Windsor Park.

Abat Aimbetov scored the decisive goal in the 88th minute, skipping past the defence and keeping his cool to fire past Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Charles came off the bench against Denmark on Friday night but was given a chance to make his mark from the start this time.

The tenacious forward, looking to build on a prolific season in League One with Wanderers, had a couple of promising moments.

He sent an effort over the bar on 12 minutes after he was picked out by Manchester City youngster Shea Charles’ clever backheel.

Then the Bolton man beat his man before providing a lovely cross for George Saville, but the Millwall midfielder couldn’t keep his header down.

Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley was absent from the side as Michael O’Neill’s side suffered a third successive defeat by the same scoreline.

The result leaves Northern Ireland fifth in Group H, having picked up three points from their opening four games as they aim to battle for qualification to next summer’s European Championship in Germany.

Their next qualifiers take place in September, making the trip to Slovenia before a rematch against Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, Conor Carty scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side in a friendly against Kuwait, which was played in Austria.

Carty made his Under-21 debut during the 2-2 draw against Ukraine on Friday night and was again named in the starting line-up.

The youngster, who is currently on loan at St Patrick’s Athletic in the League of Ireland, was on target during the opening 10 minutes as Jim Crawford’s side raced into a 2-0 lead.

They added a third after the break but the game was then abandoned following allegations of a racist remark towards an Irish substitute.