Northern Ireland v Bosnia

Words Darren Fullerton Daily Mirror

SAVILLE IS DETERMINED TO MAKE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION GOING FORWARD George Saville is keen to repay Michael O’Neill’s faith in him by establishing himself as a key player in Northern Ireland’s UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 campaigns.

“He’s put a tremendous amount of faith and trust in me from day one and that makes me want to do the very best I can for him and the country. “I look forward to every time we meet up together as a squad and I’m always determined to contribute and do my best for the team if selected.” It has been a bit of a whirlwind journey in green so far for Saville who was a surprise addition to Michael O’Neill’s panel at the tail end of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. The 25-year-old, who began his career at Chelsea, won the first of his five caps from the bench in the 3-1 home defeat to Germany last October. He also experienced the high drama of a World Cup play-off against Switzerland, making his first start

O’Neill recently branded the Middlesbrough midfielder, who made his international debut just 11 months ago, an “important” component of his plans going forward. And that’s music to the ears of Saville, who is relishing the challenge of nailing down a regular starting slot in the team’s engine room. “It makes me want to do the best I can for the team,” said the Surrey-born playmaker who qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through his Enniskillen-born grandmother. “Obviously I was a little bit late into the set-up, but I’ve loved every minute of my time with Northern Ireland and Michael has been absolutely fantastic to me.

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