Captain Steven Davis set for another ‘special night’ with Northern Ireland

The Rangers midfielder will lead out Northern Ireland tonight in front of 1,060 supporters aiming for his latest moment of history in green and white.

Two goals from Davis against Greece back in 2015 at the same Belfast venue helped to secure Northern Ireland’s landmark European Championships finals debut.

Now he stands daring to dream of back-to-back appearances at the major tournament.

“It’s all or nothing, it’ll not change in terms of how we approach the game,” said Davis. “We have to be energetic and aggressive in the right areas and play to our strengths but also bring that calmness to our game and manage the game at different stages as well.

“We have got a good balance between the youth and experience...and good energy as well, so we’re ready and hopefully we can get the job done.

“We’ve spoken many times about how much we enjoyed being in France (EURO 2016), it’s left us wanting more and we will go out tomorrow night determined to do it again.

“I think for all of us who have been involved in big games, we have those experiences and we can certainly draw on that for this game.

“All experiences, especially playing in pressure games, definitely help us but it doesn’t give a team with more experience a God-given right to go through the tie. “The Greece game was a memorable night for all of us involved, a special night.

“I think it’s very hard to compare successes you have, ultimately the most important success is the one you have at the time.

“We all want to play on that stage again...we know how special it was for the ones involved and the ones who weren’t involved want to experience that.”

Despite the high stakes, Davis views the mood in the Northern Ireland camp as one with full focus on the prize rather than any weight of responsibility.

“At the start of the campaign, if we were offered this opportunity, we would have grabbed it,” said Davis. “The preparation has gone well, the boys are looking focused and full of energy and we’re ready.

“There’s a calmness about the squad but a real focus...it’s a game we’re looking forward to since progressing against Bosnia.

“So we’re in a good place, we’re ready to go, we just need to go out and ultimately make sure it’s a good performance on the night - do that and get ourselves to the Euros.”

The 35-year-old can also draw on the pain game of tournament football following Northern Ireland’s loss to Switzerland on the verge of World Cup qualification.

A disputed penalty kick in Belfast ultimately proved decisive in the two-leg play-off showdown.

“That was a very sore one to take...it was a little bit different in that it was over two legs and how we approached the first one,” said Davis. “This game being all or nothing on that night will hopefully suit us in terms of that.

“It’s difficult to look back, not go to a World Cup on the back of that decision was very difficult to take.

“VAR is going to be involved in this game, so that’s a positive for us.

“We’re just really looking forward to kick-off.

“Slovakia are all quality players, very comfortable on the ball, technically good.

“We realise whenever you get to this stage that whoever you come up against is going to have their strengths in attacking areas and Slovakia are no different.

“We’re respectful of their talent but we also believe that we can cause them problems going the other way.

“In games of this magnitude it’s always about balance and getting that balance correct between attack and defence, the shape behind the ball and certain things like that.

“We’ve done our homework, we’re aware of the qualities they do have and we’re ready to play.”

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