By 
FORMER Tyrone SuperCupNI player Terry Devlin said he was “buzzing” after making his competitive debut for Northern Ireland in Monday’s evening’s 1-0 victory over Luxembourg at Windsor Park.
Devlin replaced fellow Tyrone man Conor Bradley at half-time and for the next 45 minutes played no fewer than three different positions as Michael O’Neill introduced a number of substitutes.
Prior to Monday evening, former Dungannon Swifts player Devlin had participated in three friendlies but he was delighted to get the opportunity to play in the UEFA World Cup qualifier.
“It was nice to get on the pitch and for a good length of time,”said the 22-year-old Cookstown native.
“It was my fourth cap and I’m buzzing. I played a number of positions but I do that for my club Portsmouth so it was very natural to me. I’m happy to play anywhere to help out the team.”
By finishing third in Group A Northern Ireland now go forward to a semi-final play-off and tomorrow (Thursday) the men in green will learn who their opponents will be come March.
Northern Ireland are set to face higher ranked opposition from Pot 1 which includes Italy, Denmark, Ukraine or Turkey away from home but Devlin believes O’Neill’s team stands a fighting chance.
“We’ll fancy ourselves against anyone in the play-offs,” he continued.
“When we look back at the games we lost in the campaign, and the manager has said this to us in meetings, we were undone by set-pieces.
“So look it’s fine margins and if we tighten things up we can be a very competitive side.
“Obviously the game tonight didn’t really mean anything in terms of changing position in the group but the manager had us well warned that it meant something in terms of preparation for the play-offs. That was our focus going into the game and the gaffer wanted us to finish with three wins – it was important to finish on a high.”
FULL STORY IN THURSDAY’S ULSTER HERALD
