Michael O'Neill has admitted he "couldn't just walk out" on Northern Ireland's players after becoming Stoke City's new manager.
O'Neill joined the Potters on Friday in a three-and-a-half-year deal, but will remain in charge of the international team for their remaining Euro qualifiers against Holland and Germany.
It has also been agreed that O'Neill will look after Northern Ireland if they reach the Euro 2020 playoffs next March, and potentially the finals if they get that far.
O'Neill was straight down to club action today, kicking off his Stoke reign with a 4-2 win over Barnsley at Oakwell.
The 50-year-old admitted he had been a "difficult week".
He said: "Having met with the owners it wasn’t a difficult decision but the timing of it...
"I believe they are a really good set of players and we have to guide them up the league to a level of comfort.
"It was important for me to finish this campaign with Northern Ireland. Players have given me everything for seven or eight years and I couldn’t just walk out before these two games.
"It’s not going to cause that much disruption to Stoke because we can’t really prepare for Wigan without players like Joe Allen and James McClean."
O'Neill joked that he maybe should have left today's first-team affairs to Stoke's caretaker team.
"For stress levels it probably would have been a smarter thing to do!" he said.
"But because of the importance of the game I wanted to leave a stamp on the team and get my imprint on it."
He added: "The key in the Championship is not to be beaten. The next third of the season will be crucial to pick up points.
"I’m still getting to know the players. We had four players left behind in terms of the squad. It’s too big a squad really.
"I’ve just said to the players that they won two back to back recently but lost the next three so that’s something we have to avoid.
"It’s a step in the right direction but it’s one step.
I’ve got a very big squad of players and trying to pick a team and system out of it wasn’t easy. But I went with my gut instinct and selected a system I think suits them best.
"The players have been very responsive. Their reaction was excellent.
"Staff have been great too."
Asked it he treated the game like an international fixture, O'Neill said: "In terms of the opposition, no disrespect to Barnsley, but I have to play Holland and Germany next week!
"It is a different type of strategy that you have come with. We knew that Barnsley would give us a tough game, everyone will have a tough game here this season. There’s no doubt about that.
"We had to match their desire. No one has a God given right to be in the Championship. You may be a bigger club, you may have spent more money, you may pay higher wages but that counts for little when you’re out on the pitch.
"Today we matched them because they tested us to the max in that and deserve a lot of credit for that.
"In terms of the international side of things, it might be more tactical and possibly be prepared to have long periods without the ball.
"It was end to end today. While I felt we deserved to win I felt at times we could have had greater control."
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