Billy Mckay aiming for Northern Ireland recall for Euro 2020 play-off clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina after five goals in four games for Ross County
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BILLY Mckay is hoping his February goal feast will fire him back into the heart of Northern Ireland’s Euro 2020 plans.
The Ross County striker grabbed five goals in a four-game spree to secure valuable survival points in the Premiership.
It could be a timely return to goalscoring form with his nation now preparing for a massive play-off test away to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday, March 26.
Even when Mckay was struggling to hit the net through difficult months this season, he remained on international radar as a mainstay on manager Michael O’Neill’s stand-by list.
County’s scrap for safety remains his biggest focus, but the 30-year-old frontman admitted: “There’s a play-off game coming up this month for the Euros.
“It would be great to put my name in the hat for that, but they have been doing really well.
“I’ve not had any contact recently, but I was on stand-by for the last few squads when I wasn’t on my best form in front of goal.
“Hopefully this puts me in his mind for it. If not, I will keep working hard and try to get there.”
Mckay, who had close to a goal every two games ratio during a record-breaking spell with Caley Thistle in the top-flight, has long since learned to overcome inevitable dry patches in front of goal.
The latest saw him score just once in more than five months, but the devastating response saw him claim February’s Ladbrokes Premiership player of the month award.
Mckay said: “Scoring early against Livingston really set me off.
“It was good to get a double in that game, and then a couple of late goals against St Johnstone and Aberdeen.
“It was a good month for myself and, more importantly, for the club. We picked up seven points out of the four games, which is great.
“That’s the kind of form we want to be having.
“Normally when a player gets this award, the team has had a good month. It’s not just an individual award. The team was brilliant in February as well.
“For all my goals, it was different people who assisted me, so without them I wouldn’t have got it.”
Mckay was praised by co-manager Stuart Kettlewell recently for ploughing in extra hard work on the training ground to bounce back to goalscoring form.
Mckay, though, insists he outs in the extra hours during good times and bad.
He stressed: “I just like to do extra finishing work anyway.
“Even on a Monday, after a game when you’ve played and don’t really have to do a full session, I do it then.
“But getting out there and training is something I’ve always done, and I feel better for it.
“When things aren’t going well you just continue doing the right things, and hopefully it will come right as it has in the past – and it has again.
“Hopefully, I can continue doing that.
“I would like to think I do put in that wee bit extra and it’s great for the managers to notice that as well.
“I feel if I do things right, I will get the rewards for it on a Saturday. Most of the time I do.”
Rangers come north in very different mood from the last time they rolled up in Dingwall and won 4-0.
Back then, the away support was bouncing with title aspirations looking realistic.
A slide in form and results in January has heaped huge pressure on Steven Gerrard and his players, with Celtic now looking like certainties for nine-in-a-row.
Mckay, though, prefers to view the Sunday challenge through Ross County-tinted spectacles.
He said: “We are looking forward to it. They are not off a good result, and neither are we –both teams have things to play for, for different reasons.
“I watched the highlights of the Hamilton game and I don’t know how Rangers haven’t won it, so I think they are still as dangerous as ever.
“But they have lost a few games, so they can definitely be beaten. It’s something we will look to try and do.
“We will look to frustrate them – but also try to be brave on the ball. If we do that, I think we have a chance.
“If we frustrate them for a while, maybe their fans might get on their back a bit.
“Then again, it’s probably a good thing for them to get away from Ibrox and play away from home. It might be a positive.
“We’ve just got to look at ourselves and try and frustrate them for as long as we can, or maybe even get an early goal.
“They are still a very good team – we’ve still got to make sure we are 100 per cent in the right frame of mind for the game.”
