Dion Charles got on the scoresheet at Windsor Park as Northern Ireland beat Belarus 2-0 in the Nations League.

The Wanderers forward fired home from the penalty spot just after the hour mark for his fourth goal on the international stage.

Sunderland defender Dan Ballard got the other goal as Michael O’Neill’s side moved a step closer to winning their group.

Charles also came close to scoring in open play but was denied by a smart stop by Fedor Lapoukhov after combining with Shea Charles.

The 29-year-old made way with 15 minutes to go and was replaced by former Bolton striker Josh Magennis.

Luke Southwood was an unused substitute, while Eoin Toal remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

O’Neill’s side have now won four successive matches on home turf and have kept a clean sheet in six of their nine fixtures this year.

They currently sit two points ahead of second-place Bulgaria ahead of Monday night’s trip to Luxembourg.

When asked about Charles’ goal and overall performance, O’Neill replied: “I think that’s very important.

“His performance was very good, he gives us a little bit of everything. He will be disappointed he didn’t score in the first half but I think it is important for him.

“He has come into international football a little bit later, but he has been a regular scorer for Bolton in League One for two and a half seasons and I think it is very important for him to score at this level.”

The manager was also pleased with his side’s patience after failing to find a breakthrough during the first half.

“We worked on this all week. If you don’t score early in the game, the opposition get confident and believe in what they are doing,” he added.

“We sat them down at half-time and showed them where they had done well and where they needed to improve.

“We felt we had to play a little bit, not more direct, but recognise the areas to get the ball in behind and in the second half, great right from the outset in terms of how we pressed the ball.

“We let them know that we were going to be very much all over them in terms of pressure in their half, then we get the breakthrough and the game changes because the opposition have to come out. I was glad to get the penalty and then I thought we probably could have added to that.”