Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

STAYING CONFIDENT IS THE KEY

Home wins have been elusive in recent times and Lavery is eager to put things right and give supporters something to shout about at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park. There’s also the little matter of erasing the memory of the 1-0 defeat in Belfast to Greece in the opening fixture of the League C Group 2 campaign. “Personally I love playing at Windsor Park and we want to end this four-game run on a positive note, particularly after the result against Greece,” said Lavery. “We’re all looking forward to getting back to playing at home again. It’s important we’re right at it and I know the crowd will be behind us, no matter what . “As a group of players we are just looking forward to the last game of this international window and hopefully we can get back to winning ways in Belfast .” Northern Ireland are also targeting goals having been held scoreless in five of their last six outings in Belfast across the past 15 months. Upbeat 0-0 draws with Italy and Switzerland have been part of the six-game sequence, so it isn’t all doom and gloom, and Lavery is confident things will turn. “Definitely,” he said. “You’ve got to stay confident and believe the goals will come or you’ll never score. In football you get those periods when sometimes it doesn’t go in. “We’ve got to stick with it and have confidence that we’ll find the net . When we do that everything else will be forgotten about .” A year after joining Blackpool , from Irish Premiership champions Linfield, Lavery can ref lect on a positive debut season in the EFL Championship. The 23-year-old, who was crowned Irish League player and young player of the year in 2021,

scored 10 goals in 40 games, including a late equaliser on his debut against Bristol City in August . The livewire forward went on to make it two goals in two when he slotted home a poacher’s effort in a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup four days later. “I put in a lot of hard work in pre-season and I was feeling really sharp and fit when the season started, and when the goals come it always helps,” he said. “I didn’t set myself any targets with it being my first season. I just wanted to try and settle in quickly and give it a good go in my first year. “Of course, you’re always hoping for more goals but I was happy with 10.” It says much of the youthful squad at Baraclough’s disposal this window that there are 11 players younger than Lavery in the current panel . The likes of Manchester City teenager Shea Charles, who made his debut against Greece, and Liverpool full-back Conor Bradley are both still 18, as is Huddersfield Town’s Brodie Spencer who made his debut against Cyprus in Larnaca. “There are so many young lads coming through at the moment ,” said Lavery. “It’s great to see and the likes of Shea is only 18 which is amazing. “Hopefully there are more to come because you’re always looking for healthy competition in the squad. It pushes everyone on.”

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