They ended rooted to the bottom of Group Six and have not scored in 1242 minutes.

The picture looks bleak but McIlroy has plenty of support, mainly from the Irish Football Association, who recently rewarded the manager with a new two-year contract.

Goalkeeper Maik Taylor said: “The signs are we are making good progress under Sammy and all the lads are 100% behind the manager.

“I am sure he will be more disappointed than anyone else. Managers always are - but we are all in this together.

“People will see it as another defeat and not really know the whole truth.

“You can see we are behind Sammy with the effort, commitment and attitude we display.

“If we keep believing – remember this is a young team – we are going to keep progressing. It is only a matter of time before we turn the corner.”

Greece secured their sixth successive victory in Group Six and automatic qualification ahead of Spain after Tsartas Vassilis scored from the spot in the 69th minute.

The penalty was awarded when George McCartney was penalised for flooring Zissis Vryzas.

McCartney – who was booked earlier – was given a straight red card leaving Northern Ireland with 10 men and facing an uphill task.

Taylor said: “We wanted to come and not make up the numbers. We wanted to end the campaign on a high.

“To get so close to getting something from the game, then lose it on that penalty decision was extremely disappointing.

“Greece are not a bad team and it shows how far we have come in that we are so disappointed with a narrow defeat.”

Danny Griffin and Andy Smith both squandered good chances of ending the goal drought.

McIlroy said: “The finishing is something we need to sort out but the rest of the performance was magnificent.

“A goal would really have capped it off as the boys ran their socks off.

“We came to try and spoil the party and it nearly worked. We had a game plan to try and sit it out for 90 minutes.

“We might have scored but that has been the story of our campaign. We have just been unlucky in front of goal.”