Northern Ireland v Israel

McNair believes the Northern Ireland squad is going from strength to strength with several new faces introduced since the Euros. George Saville and Jordan Jones played in the World Cup play-off against Switzerland and Leeds United keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell has emerged as a contender for the number one shirt along with Michael McGovern and Trevor Carson. But one familiar face McNair is delighted to see again is Watford defender Craig Cathcart. He insisted: “Craig is a brilliant player. The team is better when he’s there. “Bailey’s a talented keeper. I’ve been impressed with how good he is with his feet. He’ll play for years and years. It’s great that Michael and Trevor have competition. It’s the same for the whole squad.” Despite only moving to Boro in the summer the Ballynure man was only too happy to meet up with the international squad last week. And the excitement of a new competition - the UEFA Nations League - added an extra buzz to the latest Northern Ireland get-together, according to the midfielder. “I think the Nations League is good for every nation. Hopefully we can do well, however hopefully we don’t need it (to qualify for Euro 2020) and we can qualify the normal way through the qualifying group,” he said. “The World Cup campaign was so disappointing in the end with losing the play-off the way we did but we’re over it. The World Cup is over. It’s old news. We’re looking forward to this new competition and we’ll see where it takes us. “Going to Euro 2016 was an amazing experience. It was the best three or four weeks of my life and we all want more of it and hopefully when it comes to 2020 we can be there again.” McNair admits he loves playing for his country – and playing under Michael O’Neill – as well as “seeing all the lads again”. He added: “Now that there’s so much competition for places everyone is looking over their shoulder. That can only be good for Northern Ireland and we have a squad who really believe they can continue to keep the feelgood factor going.”

Position Midfielder/Defender Date Of Birth 27.04.1995 Place Of Birth Ballyclare PADDY McNAIR

DEFENDER

MIDFIELDER/

Height 183cm Weight 76kg

CLUB RECORD

17

SQUAD NO

CLUBS Manchester United Sunderland Middlesbrough

24 25

3

INTERNATIONAL RECORD 17 Debut SQUAD NO

Caps 20 Goals 0

25.03.2015 v Scotland (A) Lost 1-0

Northern Ireland U16 Northern Ireland U17 Northern Ireland U19 Northern Ireland U21 Northern Ireland

7 1 5 2

20

41

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