Steven Davis is hoping the hamstring injury he suffered against Leicester will not keep him out of Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania.
The midfielder was withdrawn during the first half of Saturday’s 2-0 win against the Foxes, at St Mary’s, and is now a significant doubt for his country this week.
Northern Ireland currently top Group F, having won their opening three matches – a run that has ignited dreams of reaching a first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup.
They will face a tough test in Bucharest this Friday, though, against a Romanian side that are second in the table, just two points behind them.
Northern Ireland skipper Davis is desperately hoping he will be fit for the contest.
“I was really looking forward to it,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not sure if I’ll make it.
“I’ll let it settle down in the next couple of days and then assess the injury, but if I don’t make it I’ll be really disappointed.
“I just tweaked my hamstring a little bit. I don’t know how significant it is. I don’t think it’s too bad at this point in time, but I just need to let it settle down.
“It’s been a fantastic start for us so far.
“It’s going to be another difficult game for us, but a vitally important one, and I always enjoy going away with the national team, and I’ll be gutted if I miss this one.”
Davis went off after receiving treatment following a tackle from Leicester’s Jeffrey Schlupp, but he revealed the injury had taken place earlier than that.
“It was a couple of minutes before,” he said. “I think we broke forward and I just tried to catch up with the play and I felt it a little bit there, then played on for a couple of minutes.
“I think it was more a case of not wanting to make it any worse, and I felt if I started to sprint again that might have been the case.”
If Davis is declared fit for his country, he could find himself up against Saints teammate and Romanian international Florin Gardos.
“We’ve been having a little bit of banter this week, and we’re both looking forward to the game,” said Davis.
Whatever happens, though, the 29-year-old can at least reflect on another fantastic result for his club.
“We just want to keep the momentum going, keep winning games, and take a similar approach each and every game,” he said after Saturday’s win, which kept Saints second in the table.
“We know the Premier League’s a tough league, and we have to be at our best to continue to get results, and that’s all our focus is on at this point in time.”
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