SAINTS midfielder Shea Charles admitted it was a "surreal" experience to captain Northern Ireland for the first time on Friday evening.

Charles, 21, led his team out for the first time during their 2-0 win over Belarus and even provided the assist for the opening goal, scored by Sunderland's Dan Ballard.

To make things sweeter, his younger brother Pierce, who he plays alongside while on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, was also in the team.

“I can’t really explain it,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “Walking the team out to that sort of atmosphere was surreal, really.

“To have my brother right behind me was really special. All of those boys have been together for a while now. The relationship is building and building.

“l know Mum will be really proud of that. She was in the crowd with some of my family.

“Being captain I just tried to play my natural game. Obviously, there’s a bit more responsibility but we’ve got loads of captains on the pitch.

“Me going in that role, we’re all the same and Conor (Bradley), Trai (Hume), Dan (Ballard), they’ve all been captain before.

“There’s Josh (Magennis) and Sav (George Saville) with loads of experience. There’s lots of people leading the team and I’m just wearing the armband.”

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill admitted it was an easy decision to hand Charles the armband.

It was a reward for his brilliant start to the season on loan and Sheffield Wednesday and his consistency for his country.

“For me, it was an easy decision,” he explained. “Shea is a player who since we put him in the team has taken an enormous amount of responsibility.

"Putting an armband on him doesn’t change that. I think Shea has the attributes to play at the highest level of the game.

"He also has the temperament to play at the highest level and that’s what you are looking for as a captain.

“Whether Shea has the armband or not he is always going to be one of your leaders on the pitch. He deserves this opportunity.”