Northern Ireland v Norway Official Match Programme

looking forward to playing there.” Northern Ireland go into tonight’s crucial Group C clash sitting in second place on seven points. Norway, who will have experienced former Iceland and Sweden boss Lars Lagerback in charge for the first time, are off the pace in fifth, on three points, but Cathcart knows they will be a tough nut to crack. “We want to open up a bit of a gap between ourselves and Norway. We’re under no illusions; we know how tough it’s going to be but we’re at home and we’ll have the fans behind us,” he said. “Our home record in the last few years has been brilliant and we’re confident we can give a good performance and pick up three points. “There are more expectations on us in this campaign, and rightly so, but the lads have been able to cope with that. “We won’t change how we play, we won’t worry about things and the lads have carried on where they left off from the last campaign, which is fantastic. “It’s a good sign and it’s a good period for Northern Ireland football. “We want to continue that for as long as we can and at the start of this campaign we’ve shown we can do that. “Hopefully we are able to carry that on between now and the end of the campaign to achieve something again. It would be a great achievement to get to a World Cup finals.” Words: Mark McIntosh, The Sun

He admitted it has been a frustrating season for him to date. The defender said: “I got the injury at the start and it was difficult to get a diagnosis of what was wrong. “It was my groin area, and there are a lot of things going on there because it’s where everything crosses over in the body. “Once I had the surgery done I got back in the swing of things but I haven’t been 100% until now. “It’s really only been the last few weeks that I’ve started to feel good again. I picked up a couple of niggling injuries after coming back so the season has been a bit stop-start. “I was in the team, then I picked something up and was out of the team. “I’m hoping now I’ve put all that behind me and spending time with the national squad will hopefully help and I will stay fit for the rest of the season.” Cathcart, who has become an integral part of Michael O’Neill’s side in the past 18 months, is yet to play at the fully redeveloped National Football Stadium at Windsor Park as his last home appearance came before Euro 2016. He pointed out: “My last appearance at Windsor was one of the friendlies before the Euros.  “I was saying to a few of the lads when we met up that it wasn’t finished when I was last there - and there was still a stand missing. “I’m really looking forward to seeing it now that it’s completed. “It’s great that the game is sold out because when we have those fans behind us it’s incredible. I’m really

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