Arsenal defender Daniel Ballard accepts Northern Ireland owe their fans a “big performance” and result against Kosovo in the Nations League this evening (7.45pm).
With just a solitary point gleaned from two dispiriting Group C2 games against Greece and Cyprus so far, Ian Baraclough and his players are in desperate need of a tonic.
And Ballard says supporters, some of whom booed the team off after last week’s home defeat to Greece and Sunday’s 0-0 draw in Larnaca, are also in need of a lift.
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Asked if the players feel they “owe” the fans in Pristina, Ballard said: “Yeah, 100 percent.
“Even back to the game at Windsor (against Greece) it was hard to leave the fans without a positive result because the support is so amazing.
“It’s been tough recently with results and we just want to repay them as much as you can.”
Sunday’s stalemate in Cyprus made it 12 wins without a win in the Nations League for Northern Ireland dating back to the inception of the competition in 2018.
Asked if he was ‘superstitious’ as the national team bids to end a dismal winless run in its 13th outing in the Nations League, Ballard said: “No, I’m certainly not.
“The players have put a lot of work into the last two fixtures and we probably haven’t played to what we know we can do, so of course there’s frustration.
“But spirits are high, we’ve still got lots of confidence and I’m sure we can turn it around and get positive results in our next two games.
“We know we can do a lot better and that's exciting for us.”
While Ballard, who won his first cap in 2020, has grown up at Arsenal, he has cut his teeth in senior football on loan a Blackpool and Millwall over the past two seasons.
It was recently reported that several Championship clubs, including QPR and Millwall, are keen to take the 22-year-old on a permanent basis ahead of next season.
But the imposing centre-back said: “At the moment I’m just focused on these next few games. I have to see when I get back to the club to see what the situation is.”
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