Oxford United defender Brodie Spencer thrived when facing Kylian Mbappe and his teammates in Northern Ireland's 3-1 friendly defeat to France on Monday night. Oxford United's Spencer, 22, stood up well to the challenge of tackling Real Madrid superstar forward Mbappe as Northern Ireland battled hard against a side who fly to the World Cup as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. Bayern Munich star Michael Olise's superb hat-trick was the difference in the game, even after Patrick Kelly had halved the deficit to make it 2-1 midway through the second half. Northern Ireland always knew this would be a daunting challenge, but it is one their young players faced head on. 'It was tough but as a young player you want to be exposed to those types of situations, playing against the best players to test yourself,' Spencer said. 'It was an opportunity I was grateful for.' Starting on the right side of defence, Spencer came face-to-face with Mbappe as well as Paris St Germain's Desire Doue as part of France's daunting front four. And he said he relished the opportunity to face a player he remembers watching lift the 2018 World Cup back when Spencer himself was still in school. 'I was buzzing,' he said. 'I knew no matter where I played and whatever side I was asked to play on, I was going to be playing against one of the best players in the world but to be playing on the right and be up against Mbappe was amazing. 'You grow up watching those types of players and then to be able to go out there and share a pitch with them is an amazing feeling.' Even with the contest over in the last 15 minutes, Northern Ireland did not give up, battling intensely to prevent further damage. Ali McCann said: 'It's just a testament to the group that everyone's so game to work for each other from minute one to minute 90. 'You see that in every game, to be honest, not just games on big stages like that. 'The hard graft everyone puts in for each other is a really good attribute to have and it's really good for us going forward.' McCann started in midfield despite the fact that Thursday's substitute appearance against Guinea had been his first football since March following the ankle injury which ruled him out of the World Cup qualifier against Italy. 'I was gutted (to miss that game),' the Preston midfielder said. 'I'd done my ankle just maybe a couple of weeks beforehand and I was just absolutely gutted.'