Steven Davis full of pride as he is set to break Pat Jennings' cap record

Steven Davis says there is no better game to mark the milestone of him becoming Northern Ireland's most capped player than tomorrow night's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Steven DavisSteven Davis
Steven Davis

The 35-year-old will overtake the legendary Pat Jennings' record of 119 caps when he leads the team out at the Grbavica Stadium in Bosnia.

Speaking ahead of the special night both for Davis personally and the team as a whole, the Rangers midfielder spoke of his pride in playing for his country.

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“It is a massive milestone for me. I’ve probably downplayed it a little in the past but that’s just in my nature and the way football is," he said.

“You try to concentrate on one game at a time without looking too far ahead.

“Straight after the whistle you think about the next game and try not to dwell too much on things that have gone.

“But having come back from the last trip and having so many messages about equalling Pat’s record, it has given me time to sit back and realise what an incredible achievement it is.

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“I’ve always been incredibly proud to represent Northern Ireland and I’ve always loved getting away with the boys and the fans have always been brilliant with me.

“It does take a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get to this stage but it is an incredible achievement to get to this point and it’s a great game to mark the milestone hopefully.

“It’s an important game and one we have been waiting for for quite a while."

Davis equalled Jennings' record in the Nations League clash at home to Norway last month, but that was as good as it got for Northern Ireland at Windsor Park that night as the went down 5-1 in the end.

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“It was hugely disappointing but when you come away and dissect it in terms of where we were as a group and the boys not having a lot of game time at that stage, plus playing two games off the back of that, there were reasons for it," he said.

“We’ve built our success on being an energetic team and getting in people’s faces but those two games were difficult because of where the group was at.

“Obviously a lot of football has been played in a short space of time since then and a big part of our game will hopefully be back to what it should be.

“The Norway game was built up as a big night for me, equalling Pat’s caps record but it was a really frustrating night.

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“We went behind early on and managed to get ourselves level but then conceded again straight away.

“It was disappointing because we have been defensively solid but on the night we weren’t as good as we wanted to be."

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