Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria (15/10/2024)

ISAAC PRICE READY TO TAKE NEXT STEP

He insists the squad’s young players are top talents. He said: “We just need a bit more experience under our belts and I think when that comes that is when we will have to start qualifying for major tournaments. “I think we all believe we can qualify for major tournaments. The key is winning games at home. “We have to use that great support to our advantage and teams should fear coming to Belfast. When you’re a young player, you play off the crowd.” Having made the brave decision to move to Standard Liege, Price believes his game has gone to another level, which has only benefited him on the international stage. “It’s been good. It’s my second year playing there, so I’ve already had a year of experience,” he said. “I’m one of the more experienced players in the team now and I’m really enjoying it and I’m a lot more settled. “We had a bad result before the international break (a 3-0 defeat to Anderlecht) but we’re building as a team and we’ve had a few good wins.” The attacking midfielder/striker revealed playing in Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League is completely different to his experiences at Everton. He explained: “At Everton I was in the academy and then got in to the Under-21s. Then it was the first team, but I did not really ever feel like a first team player. “It’s a completely different environment in a first team changing room. You learn so much more with the senior lads and the more games you play, the better you develop.” Tonight’s Nations League clash with Bulgaria will provide an opportunity for redemption following last month’s 1-0 defeat in Plovdiv. Price said: “The game in Bulgaria was really disappointing. The goal was a mistake but we have to find ways to get back in the game. We stuck in there but just couldn’t get a goal to push us on.”

“I was lucky enough that Michael called me up when I was still playing for Everton Under-21s. He came to a game in the January and I got called up in the March. I was then playing with lads who had been playing international football for 10 years. To play with them, you learn so much and develop quicker. “It also pushed me on to go and play in a first team environment, so that’s when I decided to make the move to Belgium. “It showed the trust and faith Michael had in me even though I didn’t have much experience. The first two games I was involved in, I went away and played in both. He gave me a great opportunity that I wasn’t expecting and it’s definitely benefited me.” He is enjoying being a regular in O’Neill’s squad. Price said: “I do feel a big part of it now. We’ve got a lot of good young players and they are getting better. We’ve all played together for quite a few years at underage level, so now it’s just like what we used to do back then. “We have good relationships; we’re good mates off the pitch, too, and that always helps on the pitch. “I love coming away with Northern Ireland. It feels like a club environment and I know all the lads coming away.” Price has impressed along with the likes of Trai Hume, Conor Bradley, Shea Charles and Callum Marshall in the past 18 months and he believes the talent in the current squad is good enough to achieve the end goal of repeating the feats of the Class of 2016. He said: “I think we were all a bit naive a few years ago and didn’t realise how quick the process to the first team could be. We never spoke about us all getting a chance at senior level. “A lot of us got opportunities quicker than we had thought, which is great for us, but I was grateful to be in the Under-21s and once I got to the senior team it was just a feeling of having to take the opportunity.”

IRISHFA.COM

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