This is a poor spell, but we must focus on the bigger picture: Davis

VASTLY experienced Steven Davis is confident Northern Ireland’s hard work and exciting style of play will be rewarded in the Euro 2020 qualifiers — after the skipper admitted he’s never endured such a run of bad luck than Michael O’Neill’s men suffered in the Nations League.

Northern Ireland are still smarting from Austria’s injury-time winner on Sunday night which condemned the men in green to four successive defeats in Uefa’s new international competition.

It’s the first time since the end of Nigel Worthington’s tenure in 2011 that Northern Ireland have lost four straight competitive matches, but 33year old Davis insists his side have simply not reaped the rewards their good performances have deserved.

They are playing with pace, power and authority, forcing teams onto the back foot, but after registering 56 goal attempts during the games, both home and away, against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Austria, Northern Ireland scored only two goals, and a lack of clinical finishing, along with self-inflicted defensive errors at crucial times, have cost them.

When asked if he had ever experienced such a run of misfortune, Davis stated: “I don’t think so, not in terms of getting the performances we’ve had without getting results.

“I’ve definitely had periods where we maybe haven’t been playing well and not picked up results.

“To show the consistency we have and not get the results has been difficult to take, but I think the dressing room is still upbeat. We can still see the bigger picture.”

After an international year when Northern Ireland recorded just two wins out of nine games, including two with a weakened squad on the end of season Central American tour, it would usually be classified as a disaster.

But the signs for Northern Ireland are actually positive in terms of a new system that is creating numerous chances and not just relying on set-pieces and the counter attack.

O’Neill is playing to the strengths of the players and has used the Nations League to integrate young stars such as goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, left-back Jamal Lewis and winger Gavin Whyte into the team, while also trying Paddy McNair and Michael Smith in the right-back position, where they both impressed.

Davis, who won his 107th cap on Sunday night, is adamant that Northern Ireland will soon start to see an improvement in results to match their displays.

“Listen, if you continue to put in a performance like that you’d expect results to come,” admitted the midfielder from Cullybackey.

“We’re not going to get downhearted. If you look back over the last five or six games, performance-wise this is probably as well as we’ve performed consistently.

“We’ve definitely played worse and won in the past, so there are a lot of good things that we’ve done and a lot of positives to take.

“Maybe a little bit of fine tuning and being a bit more clinical at this level, which we’ve already spoken about (after previous matches).

“I think we’re in a decent position moving forward and we just have to be confident, believe in what we’re doing and I’m sure the tide will turn.

“The squad is getting stronger and that’s obviously down to the experience Michael has given the younger players.

“All the younger players have really stepped up and shown what they can do, so that’ll stand us in good stead for March.

“We’ll look forward to the (Euro) draw and hopefully go on and achieve something special again.”

Northern Ireland will find out who they play in the 2020 European Championship qualifiers, which kick-off next March, at a ceremony in Dublin