NI confident of scoring elusive goal

Northern Ireland go into Saturday evening's Euro 2004 fixture against Ukraine confident that they can at last score that elusive goal which has eluded them for 972 minutes of competitive football.

Sammy McIlroy's men last hit the back of the net in February 2002 with a goal by Steve Lomas.

However, that fact is not weighing too heavily on the players' minds. Andy Smith, Northern Ireland's likely front man in Donetsk, is confident they can break their duck.

"Everyone is talking about how long we have gone without scoring but it is not through lack of trying.

"I am sure we will find the target in the remaining qualifiers. All we need is a bit of luck," he said.

Captain Aaron Hughes is also confident of a positive result. He said: "If we play the way we did against Spain we could come away with something.

"We showed that, as well as being able to play a bit of football, we can dig in and battle."

Northern Ireland's only changes from that Spain game should see Keith Gillespie and Michael Hughes returning to the starting 11. That could mean a seat on the bench for Steve Jones and David Healy, with Andy Smith playing the lone striker role, something he is more than willing to do.

"To play for my country means everything to me," he said.

And that's an attitude every Northern Ireland supporter will be looking for come Saturday night when Sammy McIlroy's men attempt to build on that impressive 0-0 draw with Spain in June.

(MB)