Lafferty ready for Russia

In fact the Burnley left-back is hoping there’s another memorable Windsor Park night in the offing.

“We are under no pressure at all, as we obviously know that Russia are massive favourites,” stated Lafferty.

“We have nothing to lose, so we can go out and put in a good performance, like we have been putting in, in the past from the previous games.

“I feel if we can put in a performance we won’t be far away and who knows with a bit of luck on the night you never know what might happen, it could be another one of those memorable Windsor Park nights from years gone by.”

The former Derry City man has played in Burnley’s opening three games of the season and he’s keeping his fingers crossed that Michael O’Neill will select him for this evening’s re-arranged qualifier, which was postponed in March due to snow.

“Hopefully I get get the nod tonight and just continue on playing.

“I had a decent enough pre-season behind me, I got plenty of game time and I’m feeling good.

“We have four points from a possible six from our first two games and we also had a nice mid-week Capital One Cup win as well at York City, so we have started off well and it’s good that I have been given the nod and I have played in the three games.”

The 24-year-old might be coming up against good friends this season, with fellow Northern Ireland international Shane Ferguson joining Birmingham City on a season long loan from Newcastle United, while ex-City team-mates James McClean and Stephen McLaughlin are also plying their trade in the Championship this campaign, with Wigan Athletic and Nottingham Forest respectively.

In fact McClean met up with Lafferty last week before he made his move to Owen Coyle’s side, a move, which the Carnhill man feels will benefit the ex-Sunderland winger.

“We are all located around the same area and I was out for dinner with James on Thursday night.

“It’s obviously a good move for James and for him to make his debut at Wembley against Man United it doesn’t get much better.

“It’s also a good move for Shane, as he’ll be playing more regularly and Birmingham have got off to a good start and hopefully Stephen can feature a lot more this year with Forest.

“It’s great for all the lads to be playing in a league like the Championship, which is so competitive, it’s a great achievement concerning where three of us have come from.”