Northern Ireland v Germany

“He sent me on against Estonia and asked me to try to change the game and thankfully Josh (Magennis) and I scored the goals to win the game. “What he’s done with such a small pool of players is brilliant. Even when some of us haven’t been playing for our clubs he makes us believe we’ll get results for Northern Ireland.” European and world heavyweights Germany are, of course, no strangers to Washington and Co having faced them at Euro 2016 and during the last World Cup qualification campaign - but the in-form hitman hopes tonight’s clash could be a night to savour. “We’ve lost three times against Germany despite playing well. They are a totally different team now with so many changes in their squad but they are still quality, as you’d expect. “It’s been a little while since we took a major scalp and that will be our aim. We’ve started this campaign well and put ourselves in a good position so hopefully that will continue. “Games at Windsor Park always give us a chance and we’ll be ready for it.” Northern Ireland coach Austin MacPhee was instrumental in securing Washington’s services for Hearts in the summer and he believes he has all the attributes to be a huge success in the Scottish Premiership as well as in a Northern Ireland shirt. He said: “Conor is an uncoached player. He didn’t come from an academy. He was a 16-year-old playing tough men’s football, learning how to deal with the physical side of the game. He is powerful and quick and runs behind the line all the time. Hardly any players do that anymore. “I’d describe Conor almost as old-fashioned in that regard. I think that’s because his natural instinct - to run towards the goal with or without the ball, hoping to score like a kid in the playground - hasn’t been coached out of him between the ages of eight and 20. He just played. “With Northern Ireland recently he has played like the lad who was at Peterborough, the one who caught the eye and then joined the national team.”

CONOR WASHINGTON

Position Striker Date Of Birth 18.05.1992 Place Of Birth Chatham

STRIKER

Height 178cm Weight 74kg

CLUB RECORD

9

SQUAD NO

CLUBS St Ives Town

80 39 82 92 15

Newport County Peterborough United Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Heart of Midlothian

4

INTERNATIONAL RECORD

16

SQUAD NO

Debut 24.03.16 v Wales (A) Drew 1-1

Caps 20 Goals 4

21

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