Daniel Ballard delighted as he ticks off checklist for perfect night in a Northern Ireland shirt
It was the perfect night all round for Daniel Ballard as Northern Ireland kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 2-0 win over Luxembourg.
The big Sunderland defender chipped in with one of the goals, kept a clean sheet and had the pleasure of watching his clubmate Trai Hume lead the side out for the very first time. "I’ve been dreaming of a goal at Windsor for a long time now so it was nice to finally get that in front of the home fans and my family, it was a really nice moment," beamed Ballard afterwards.
He was equally as pleased for his good friend Hume. "It was really nice to see," said Ballard when asked about his Sunderland teammate captaining the side for the very first time. "I’m over the moon for him. I’m sure he was very proud. Over the last two years he has been outstanding and so consistent at club level and international level, which is so important to us."
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In O'Neill's first period in charge defenders regularly chipped in with their fair share of goals. With Ballard bagging his second goal in three games and Paddy McNair also getting in on the act against Luxembourg it seems to becoming an important weapon for Northern Ireland once again.
"Yeah I think with the success they had with set pieces with that really strong team I feel like we came away from that a little bit so he (O’Neill) has put a big emphasis on getting back to that because it can really help to sway games and we have been working on it a lot," said Ballard.
"It was nice that I scored and also that Paddy got on the scoresheet as well. I know Ciaron [Brown] was disappointed he didn’t score. It is important we all chip in with a few goals to try and win these games.
"We wanted to put them under pressure at home and wanted a fast start. I feel we have a really strong squad now and the emphasis is on us to go and win the game. I think that is testament to the players and coaching staff. We have worked a lot and we are in a good spot with a lot of confidence."
There's a determination about the squad to make this Nations League campaign count. They face a tough away task now on Sunday in Bulgaria but Ballard feels they can take confidence out of their recent performances in Scotland and Romania.
"The goal is to try and win the group and I feel like we are in a strong spot to do that," he said. "It was really important we won the first game and we can take a lot of confidence into the next one.
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"It is going to be tougher. It is important we rest now and we will focus on them and look at footage ahead of the game. It will be a more physical, tougher game especially away from home. We just have to prepare right and give it a good go.
"You get confidence from winning and positive results and we’ve had that recently. I feel like we are in a strong spot now. We have a good team with a lot of strong players."
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