Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis says scoring in his first competitive outing in six weeks was the “icing on the cake” in Friday night’s friendly win in Luxembourg.
Davis pounced for his 13th international goal in the 83rd minute to help Ian Baraclough’s men secure a late, dramatic victory in their first outing of 2022.
It was the 37-year-old's first Northern Ireland goal since 2019 and his first gametime since featuring in Rangers’ 3-0 win over Annan Athletic in the Scottish Cup on February 12.
Read more: Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland as it happened on Friday night
Davis, who has been battling niggly injuries since the New Year, has played just five minutes of the Ibrox club’s last 16 league games dating back to December 4.
“This is an important week for me having missed a bit of time with a couple of injuries since the New Year,” said Davis, who was a 62nd minute replacement for Jordan Thompson.
“I was delighted to be back out on the pitch again. I enjoyed it and to get a goal was obviously the icing on the cake for me.”
Northern Ireland looked resigned to a frustrating 1-1 draw after Marvin Martins had cancelled out Josh Magennis’ superb opener for the visitors.
But with time running out, Davis, whose last international goal was in a 2-0 win over Estonia in Belfast in 2019, made it 2-1 when he poked home a half-cleared Niall McGinn cross in the 83rd minute.
And two minutes later follow substitute Gavin Whyte latched onto a mistake by Enes Mahmutovic to race clear to steer a cool shot past the exposed Anthony Moris.
Davis said: “There are parts of the game we could improve on and Luxembourg have technical players who, if you give them time and space, can hurt you.
“It was important we showed that character and got the win. We’re delighted with the result and to score three goals in any away win is always a positive.
“It’s always good to get back together as a squad and we’re really pleased to come away with a win."
Next up for Northern Ireland, who are now unbeaten in their last three games, is a home friendly with Hungary at Windsor Park on Tuesday night.
“Hungary are a team that have been improving and they have some good young players, so it’s going to be a good test for us,” said Davis.
“It’s against good opposition and it’ll be in front of a full house, so it’s one we will really look forward to.”
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