David Healy ready to prove doubters wrong
Northern Ireland striker David Healy has said he is ready to defy his doubters and aims to find the back of the net if he features in UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying matches against Slovenia and Italy.
Despite being his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with 35 goals, the 31-year old has not scored for Northern Ireland since October 2008. However, he is "desperate" to play as he looks to prove his critics wrong and show he can still be an important player for Northern Ireland.
He told reporters that: "I'm desperate to play and desperate to score goals. It would be nice to show I'm not finished by a long way. People are always going to doubt you, questioning your ability or fitness. It hurts. People will always have that question mark beside your name if you haven't scored for six games or 10 games, if you have scored 12 to 13 goals in a campaign but don't score in the next one. It is about character and I've been around long enough to block it out of my mind."
Struggling at club level
Healy has struggled to make an impression with Sunderland since moving from their English Premier League rivals Sunderland two years ago in a deal believed to be worth around £1.2m. He has made just 13 league appearances for the club, and has scored just one EPL goal. He was farmed out on loan to Ipswich Town in January this year and netted once in 12 appearances.
However, Healy has put his torrid time at club level to the back of his mind as Northern Ireland aim to get their qualifying campaign off to a good start when they take on Slovenia in Maribor tomorrow.
He said that: "We have to go out and perform, be big, be strong and mentally tough and come away with a big result. I love playing for my country, I want to score goals and I want to prove I'm still capable of pulling on that jersey for Northern Ireland."
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