Davis defiant over positive NI future

Steven Davis has pointed to an unfortunate bad run of luck as the catalyst for Northern Irelands' poor Nations League showing, that saw them relegated at the first time of asking. 

A late stoppage time winner for Austria at Windsor Park on Sunday condemned Micheal O'Neill's side to a fourth consecutive defeat in the competition, capping off a woeful display.

Ruthless finishing from a series of opponents combined with the toothless displays by the North Irish attack, insured that the side would finish the opening phase of the competition without a solitary point.

In spite of all this, captain Davis is convinced that his side showed enough quality to pick up their results in the new year, just in time for EURO 2020 qualifying.

After his side's most recent defeat, Davis spoke to the media, stating: "'We'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."

Davis' words echo that of his manager, who also thinks that his side has done enough to prove that they can compete for a place at the next major tournament in two years time.

He continued: "We showed good character again and we didn't let it affect us. That was definitely a positive - the character we have shown, because it would have been easy to drop when we've had the results we've had and not got what we felt we deserved."

The captain concluded: "I think sometimes you go through little periods in football where you don't get what you deserve all the time. Hopefully that's our bad luck out of the way and we can really kick on. We know how important it is to get off to a good start in the qualifiers, so we'll be ready for that come March and really focused and determined to secure that spot."