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Thomas Muller will end Germany goal drought - Joachim Low

Germany coach Joachim Low is positive that Thomas Muller will end his goal drought in the round of 16 after he was again denied in Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland.

Muller played the ball back for Mario Gomez to score the only goal, but the striker was himself repeatedly denied by the heroic goalkeeping of Northern Ireland's Michael McGovern.

After scoring 32 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich last season, Muller did not find the net in Germany's three group games in France.

But his manager backed him to recover his form in the knockout stage as Germany face either Albania or Slovakia.

"I'm not worried about Thomas Muller not scoring," Low said. "If he'd not had any chances I'd be more worried, but he had three or four really good ones and that shows that we're doing well.

"He was close tonight and I'm sure he'll score in the next match."

Low, who revealed Jerome Boateng had to come out in the second half after "struggling with his calf," also had praise for winger Joshua Kimmich, who sent in a cross that Muller crashed off the post in the first half.

"I thought Joshua Kimmich did really well on the right," Low said. "He made some good runs, put some crosses in and he never really looked nervous.

"He's a very clever lad and looked good in the air too, so I was very happy with his performance."

Germany are likely to face Slovakia in their next game on Sunday in Lille, though they would play Albania if the third-placed teams in Group E and F fail to qualify.

"It's a bit soon to be talking about possible opponents. Let's see what happens. To be honest, it's a bit complicated for me!," Low said. "Slovakia played well last night and I've seen Albania a couple of times too."

The slim scoreline meant Germany were at risk of being overtaken by Poland in Group C, and UEFA's man of the match Mesut Ozil said his side would have preferred to make the victory more comfortable.

"We wanted to score more goals today," he said. "We created a lot of chances which was a positive, and that wasn't the case against Poland. We completely dominated the game and did the important bit in getting the three points.

"The level at this tournament is very high. The best international teams are facing one another and that reflects in how close the scorelines have been."