Baraclough: Davis can play on for years yet
NORTHERN IRELAND boss Ian Baraclough wants to see captain Steven Davis sign a new contract at Rangers and believes the 37-year-old can keep going for another two or three seasons.
Davis is part of the 28-strong Northern Ireland squad that has reported for duty in Belfast ahead of Nations League fixtures against Greece, Cyprus and Kosovo over the next two weeks, but his club future is uncertain with his deal expiring at the end of June.
Reports in Scotland suggest Davis, who has 134 caps for his country, has held positive discussions with the Ibrox club and suggested a new one-year contract could be forthcoming, and confirmation of that would delight Baraclough.
“I think he can play for another couple or three years but that’s me,” he said.
“I don’t want to ramp up any sort of pressure on him. I always get plenty of questions about him and I don’t like talking about the subject of him retiring.
“In the Scottish Cup final I thought he was great. He came on in the Europa League final, calmed things down for Rangers at the time, maybe could have even got a goal or two for Rangers as well and he put his penalty away, which shows his coolness of mind.
“He’s our leader, our captain, he’s someone we want around for a little while longer.”
Baraclough said that, barring one or two minor knocks, there were no injury concerns within his squad, with no absentees as they gathered over the weekend.
Northern Ireland, the top seeds in League C Group 2, host Greece on Thursday before travelling to Cyprus and Kosovo, then returning to Belfast to face Cyprus again on June 12.
“I think the majority of them are fit and raring to go straight away,” Baraclough said.