‘It’s not a risk playing for your country, it’s a reward’

If you don’t know where you’ll be playing next season, the biggest risk factor is injury, but that can happen anywhere at any time.

And when your club future is uncertain, I think there’s a selling point to playing international football.

If you’re playing League One or Championship, people will be thinking if Michael O’Neill is picking him to play senior international football, he must have some qualities.

That’s the way I’ve always looked at it, going into the summer.

There’s no grey area for me, I love playing for my country.

Last year when I was looking for a club, if I was going to get injured and it was my last games, if I was able to say I did it playing for Northern Ireland, I’d have had no problems with that.

 I don’t think that’s just me, that’s all of us. Nobody thinks it’s a chore, nobody thinks it’s hard work.

It’s not a risk playing for your country, it’s a reward. You can’t top it.