O’Neill hails Davis as Gers ace reaches 113 caps

NTH IRELAND v GERMANY what it means to him. Steven deserves to be talked about in that breath because I believe he will break Jennings’ record.

“When he ever does hang up his boots he will rightly be remembered as one of the greatest players we’ve had.”

Davis helped Northern Ireland famously beat England at the start of his international career in 2005 and O’Neill’s men need another night like that against the Germans.

They have lost their last seven meetings and O’Neill expects a reaction from Joachim Low’s side to their 4-2 home defeat to Holland on Friday with the Dutch exposing Germany’s new-look defence as Low attempts to rebuild after their disastrous 2018 World Cup.

O’Neill said: “They’ve made the decisions on personnel because they’re looking ahead but are they more beatable?

“Possibly, but it doesn’t mean the game is going to be any easier for us and the players know that.

“In a way it’s a good thing they’re coming off a defeat. It’s not a game they will relish but teams like them react to defeats and we have to be ready for that.”

Northern Ireland have won all four of their qualifiers to top Group C and O’Neill claims they need a result tonight to reach his target of six points from their double headers against Germany and Holland.

He said: “We’re possibly going to need six points from the four games to give ourselves a real chance. The opportunity to get those six points will be at home.”

Davis would swap his caps record for a place at Euro 2020.

He said: “If we manage to get out of this group it will be a remarkable achievement, more important than getting the caps.

“The pressure is all on Holland and Germany. Do I believe we can get results against them? One hundred per cent. Hopefully this is a special night at Windsor.”