Jamie Ward admits that he is looking forward to pulling on the Northern Ireland shirt as the Green and White Army prepare to resume their UEFA Euro 2016 campaign.
Jamie Ward admits that he is looking forward to pulling on the Northern Ireland shirt as the Green and White Army prepare to resume their UEFA Euro 2016 campaign.
Michael O’Neill’s side face a crucial game against Finland in Group F on Sunday knowing that victory would tighten their grip on second place and an automatic qualifying position for the finals next summer.
Ward was unavailable for international duty back in November after being struck down with a thigh injury, but the 28-year-old wideman is hoping to make up for lost time in a bid to help Northern Ireland qualify.
Speaking to dcfc.co.uk, he said: “Hopefully we can get back to winning ways, that’s the most important thing for us.
“We have a tough game against Finland, but if we can beat them, it will put us in a very good position for the rest of the campaign.
“It will be great to pull on the green shirt again and I’m going to do everything I can to push them in the right direction.”
Before that, though, Derby County team mates will become enemies in an international friendly at Hampden Park as Northern Ireland prepare to face Scotland tomorrow night.
Johnny Russell and Craig Forsyth, two of Ward’s team mates at Derby, have both been called up to the Scotland squad for the final international break of the season.
It means that Ward could face two of his current club team mates and he has admitted that he is looking at the game is a completely different way, but it is not going to stop him trying to wind up Russell ahead of the game.
He added: “Before that, I could be coming up against some of the boys that I play with here. I’ll just make sure that I don’t kick them!
“I can’t be going round kicking my mates! You look at games completely different when you play against players who you work with on a day to day basis.
“I know how much they put into working for Derby and hopefully they will do it in that game as well.
“I’ll be trying to wind Johnny up before the game in any way that I can before the game.
“We don’t get wound up with each other, though, because we know we are both messing around. We will have a laugh, a cuddle, but we will both be focused on the game.”
