Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group C, where they will face world champions Germany as well as Poland and Ukraine, and O’Neill was given a boost after seeing England defeat Joachim Loew’s side 3-2 in a friendly in Berlin in March.
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Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick may be team-mates under Mick McCarthy at Ipswich Town, but the pair are vying for one of the striker’s positions.
“I’ve got a lot better on the ball”.
“You’d like to go into the games and come out with confidence intact”.
“I’m not expecting to be in the tournament by July 10, but I’m hoping I’m not going home on June 23 either”. “Yeah, I’ll get the Syria job next”, he smiles.
Clark spoke of feeling more confident at global level following those performances and if chosen to start he said that he wouldn’t have a preference as to who he was partnered with.
He said: “I want to put my marker down and see if I can get on the plane (to France). I know what it’s like coming back from injury and with every game I’ll feel better”. But when you get a bit of success, as we have had, that’s been the biggest positive. It’s my aim to get back into the Premier League and to play global football. There’s obviously a reason I’ve not scored but I think I’ve had some decent chances but the keeper’s saved it, or I’ve hit the post or something like that.
Six years on, the experiences of those traumatic few days remain with him, but have given him a perspective on his life and career: “I appreciate everything after it, to be honest”.
Murphy (centre) with McGoldrick (right).
“It’s massive for any player”, replied the twice-capped forward, when asked what it would mean to get the nod for the European championships. It’s massive for me and I’m sure it’s just as massive for Murph and all the other boys out there.
O’Neill is prone to the odd obscure decision and is renowned for keeping the players guessing, especially in the build-up to matches, but the Derry man is not going to play games with the heart of the squad, so Duffy and Clark can rest easy.
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“But I’ve had a number of them in training this week and before with Arsenal, so I’m not afraid of that”.
