Steven Davis: ‘Individual players successes can help international careers’

Northern Ireland first team coach Steven Davis says recent successes enjoyed by members of Michael O’Neill’s squad at club level should help their progression in the international game.

A number of players were part of crucial occasions for their teams in recent weeks ahead of Northern Ireland’s forthcoming friendlies away to Denmark on 7 June and home to Iceland on 10 June.

“You just have to look at some of the individual seasons the players have had, obviously Conor [Bradley] winning the Premier League [with Liverpool], Justin Devenny winning the FA Cup [with Crystal Palace] and Trai Hume and Dan Ballard being promoted to the Premier League with Sunderland,” said Davis in an interview with BBC Sport NI.

“It’s vital that the players continue to progress at their clubs and that’s what they’re doing, they just have to continue to develop.

“Ultimately they come in better placed into the international set-up if that’s the case.”

The 140-times capped international reflected that there had been “a lot of progression within the group over the last 12 or 18 months” with a series of positive results and the team topping their Nations League group.

The upcoming friendly double-header will act as preparation for the start of World Cup qualifying in September.

“These games are vital because the time you get with the players is so limited in international football so whenever you do get together it’s important you maximise that time, reinforce your ideas and add layers to them.

“The level of opposition in the two games will test us too.

“We’re coming up against stiff opposition [in World Cup qualifying] in Germany, Slovakia and Luxembourg, it’s a difficult group but these two games coming up are great preparation for us.”