Source: Team_Talk
Pat display sways Worthington
igel Worthington admits Pat McCourt has made himself undroppable for Northern Ireland's crunch clash against Serbia next month.[LNB] McCourt lit up Windsor Park with a dazzling display on Wednesday night, scoring two wonderful goals as Worthington's men romped to a 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands.[LNB]Three points, not to mention the emphatic nature of the performance, have raised Northern Ireland's hopes of claiming second place in their Euro 2012 qualifying group.[LNB]Worthington's side are now third, two points off Slovenia with a game in hand, meaning the visit of Serbia on September 2 is a crucial one.[LNB]McCourt had not started a competitive match before Wednesday night's win but shone in the absence of Kyle Lafferty, Chris Brunt, Josh McQuoid, Martin Paterson and Warren Feeney.[LNB]Now Worthington, who has taken some time to be won over by the mercurial Celtic winger, is ready to throw his plans out of the window to accommodate him.[LNB]"Paddy's got fantastic feet, he twists defenders this way and that and he can really turn it on," he said.[LNB]"But you've got to be honest and say it publicly...where are you going to play him against Serbia, because they are going to have 10 men coming at you.[LNB]"Yet he has to play. I'll have to pick a team pretty much around him and make sure he's there."[LNB]Worthington will hope McCourt's eye-catching display against the Faroes will be enough to catch the eye of Hoops boss Neil Lennon, another who has been reluctant to hand the 27-year-old a regular starting berth.[LNB]"If Paddy can get more regular first-team football that's going to help us," he said.[LNB]"That's been shown with Niall McGinn (who has left Celtic on loan). He's had a full pre-season with Brentford and where he was a year ago against this match is chalk and cheese."[LNB]Prior to Wednesday, Northern Ireland had scored just three times in five Group C matches.[LNB]With fans hoping for a change in tack against a leaky Faroes defence, captain Aaron Hughes opened the scoring after just five minutes only for a nervy hour-long wait before Steven Davis lashed home a second to ease the tension.[LNB]McCourt's brilliant brace followed and Worthington was pleased to see his side playing with a new-found freedom.[LNB]"Goalscoring has been a problem for us," he admitted.[LNB]"The win was the first thing, that was number one. Winning a game of football 1-0 is fantastic but if you get three, four, five goals that's even better.[LNB]"I'm always harping on at our defenders on set plays and I'm delighted for Aaron Hughes. He's a fantastic man, a great skipper and he's proud to wear the Northern Ireland shirt.[LNB]"He can now look back on his career, when the time comes, and say 'I scored a goal for Northern Ireland'. Fantastic."[LNB]
