Northern Ireland forward Jamie Ward says the team will thrive as underdogs against Switzerland in the Russia 2018 play-offs as they seek to qualify for their first World Cup since 1986.

Michael O'Neill's side missed out on being seeded for the draw last month by virtue of their world ranking, so knew they would face either the Swiss, Italy, Croatia or Denmark over two legs to determine their Russia fate.

Northern Ireland, ranked 23rd by FIFA, take on the 11th-ranked Swiss in Belfast on Thursday, with the return leg on November 12 in Basel.

"I see in this squad an opportunity they don't want to waste," said O'Neill. "But equally they've done everything so far and I think they will do everything in the next two games to make it a reality.

"These players have experienced a lot of good and bad. The one thing I would say to them is don't fear the situation, embrace the situation and make sure whatever happens when you look back there are no regrets.

"We all know the prize is massive and what it means to everyone in Northern Ireland, the players, staff, Irish Football Association, everyone in Northern Ireland."

The manager said self-belief had grown among the players in recent years as the team climbed from 129th in the world rankings early in O'Neill's tenure.

When they last faced Switzerland in 2004, Northern Ireland, who have reached the World Cup finals three times, were in the midst of a run of winning just one game in almost four years.

"It wasn't an overnight fix and it never will be when you're a small country," O'Neill said.

"The players deserve enormous credit, they had to turn it around themselves. You can get into a habit of things being poor and losing and that mindset. It takes guts to change it and the players did that. That's something we hang on to.

"The good thing we have now is that when you've been through those experiences, you don't want to go back. That's the only motivation you need to maintain at the level it's at, for us to progress to the (Euro 2016) finals, to get to the last 16, to now being in a World Cup play-off. The players don't want to let it go."

Nottingham Forest's Ward, back in the fold for the first time since March after overcoming a calf problem, says Switzerland will have to handle the expectations.

Vladimir Petkovic's team arrived in Belfast on Tuesday ahead of the first leg, and Ward said: "They've got to take their chances. Everyone is expecting them to win in the football world.

"They're obviously the seeded team, so the pressure's more on them than us. We're always great as the underdogs, so I think it was a bit of a bonus us not being seeded.

"If you're seeded, you get a little more pressure on yourself so we'll go into this game as underdogs again. Hopefully we can be worthy winners."

"If we play the way we can play, I don't see why we can't take a lead out there or at least a positive result," he added.

Should O'Neill's team find a way past the Swiss, they would end a 32-year exile from the World Cup finals and become the first Northern Irish side in history to make back-to-back major tournaments after appearing at Euro 2016.

With Wales and Scotland already out of the running and Ireland involved in their own play-off against Denmark, Ward feels the Northern Irish are still not getting the recognition they warrant.

"I think people see it as it's Northern Ireland and they've not done well for a long time, but on the other side they will go and buy players from the Republic squad," he added.

"Premier League clubs are happy to do that. We're just as good as them but it's obviously someone taking a risk or a chance on us and letting us prove we're worth playing at the next level."