Davis insists tonight is all about the win despite his cap record
STEVEN DAVIS wants only one thing from his record-breaking 126th appearance for Northern Ireland – a victory over Bulgaria.
The 36-year-old midfielder will move clear of Peter Shilton’s British caps record in tonight’s World Cup qualifier, but Davis said the only way to mark it properly would be with three crucial points.
“We have to get back to winning ways and find a way to win the game,” he said. “It’s a big landmark for me personally but my focus is on the game.”
Davis has broken a series of records in recent international windows, but this one will have a different feel as it takes place behind closed doors and without his family being able to attend.
“We’re in the bubble but once I get back home I can mark it with the wife and kids, which will be nice,” he said.
“We can’t wait to get the fans back in and we’re looking forward to getting then back. We’ll just try to get a win and then in September they’ll be back and we can push on.”
Though Thursday’s opening qualifier ended in a 2-0 defeat to the Italians in Parma, there was major encouragement to be taken from the
second-half performance. The challenge now is to replicate that against a Bulgaria side who have themselves won only one of their last 10 games – a 3-0 friendly victory over Gibraltar in November – and who lost their opening qualifier 3-1 at home to Switzerland last week.
“They’ll come here on the back of two defeats so they won’t want to give a great deal away,” Baraclough said.