O’NEILL’S BALLARD PLAN
MICHAEL O’NEILL says he will do all he can to ensure Daniel Ballard sticks with Northern Ireland rather than switch his allegiance to England.
The Arsenal defender, 19 (left) is rated by Gunners Under-23s boss Freddie Ljungberg and will join up with O’Neill’s senior squad for the first time this week.
The Stevenage-born star qualifies for Northern Ireland through his mum and O’Neill is sure he has a big international future ahead of him.
And while he won’t be given a cap for the sake of it, O’Neill is keen to avoid a situation like Declan Rice, who played for the Republic of Ireland before opting to switch to the Three Lions. “We want Daniel to play for Northern Ireland,” O’Neill said. “By bringing him in now we are showing his pathway to playing senior international football would be quick here.
“We’ve seen obviously that players like Declan Rice have changed their minds and they have the right to do that.
“Daniel has been very committed to Northern Ireland. I’m looking forward to working with him and for him to feel that his future is with us.” GARETH SOUTHGATE goes into England’s Euro 2020 qualifiers delighted with a strike force which is hell-bent on becoming the best in the world.
Harry Kane is top gunner with Czech Republic in his sights at Wembley on Friday, followed by a trip to Montenegro three days later.
Super sidekicks Marcus Rashford (right) and Raheem Sterling stand beside the Tottenham striker in a quest for goals.
And in Southgate’s eyes there are plenty of other back-ups in his England ranks as he targets reaching the semi-finals and finals of the world’s biggest tournaments.
Southgate is mightily impressed with the talent he has at his disposal, with last summer’s World Cup Semi-Final just the beginning for his England warriors.
He said: “We’ve got more than three but the three forwards we’ve played in our last few matches, they’ve all got that mentality – that they want to be one of the best players in the world.
“And that’s brilliant for us. It’s hugely exciting when you’ve got Rashford, Kane, Sterling and then you look at who else has played there for us.
“Jadon
Sancho, Jesse Lingard, Dele
Alli, the attacking players who are coming through.
“Then there are the younger ones like Dominic Solanke, Callum Hudson-Odoi. I could go on.
“I’m missing out players that I should be naming.
“But players who have a mentality that they really want to be top. And again, you need that sort of environment.
“If we’re going to continue to improve and constantly be hitting semi-finals and finals, we’ve got to handle expectations.
“You need players who are going to step up and aren’t satisfied with where they are and want to get better.”
Kane’s pedigree goes without saying but Southgate has seen