Sunderland defender Dan Ballard has claimed he is “ready to get some minutes” for Northern Ireland this international break following a “frustrating” spell on Wearside.
The centre-back has struggled with injury this season and has played just 12 minutes of Championship football since completing a full 90 in the Black Cats’ 3-2 defeat to Plymouth Argyle two months ago. Indeed, Ballard was forced to withdraw from Northern Ireland’s last camp in October but is eager to make up for lost time against Belarus and Luxembourg in the coming days.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said, “I feel alright now. It’s been a frustrating month; I’ve not played too much football this season so it’s been a stop-start so far, but I’m just happy to be back out there training and I feel ready to get some minutes now.” When asked if he felt capable of playing a full 90 minutes if required, the 25-year-old added, “I think so. I’ve been training for two or three weeks now and I got some minutes at the weekend with Sunderland. Even though it was only a few, I’ve been running a lot, training a lot with the boys and I feel thereabouts now.”
Ballard also took some time to discuss Northern Ireland’s current run of form, and the positive position they find themselves in as their UEFA Nations League group nears its conclusion. Michael O’Neill’s men have lost just one of their last five matches, thrashed Bulgaria 5-0 in their most recent outing, and could finish top if results go their way in the next few days.
The Sunderland man added: “I think we’ve been on a decent run of form and as a group we’re really confident. We’ve played Belarus and Luxembourg already so we know we can put in a good performance against them and it’s just about putting everything together and securing enough points to win the group.
“Doing that would show progression. I feel like we should be winning this group on paper. Obviously we’ve had some tougher times recently and it’s been nice to get that sort of momentum going again. We’ve had a really young group so we’ve had to gel together and it’s all come at a good time. We’re feeling confident at the minute so we’re heading in the right direction.”
