Kyle Lafferty: ‘I thought the worst but now I’ve never felt better’

Kyle Lafferty has declared himself fit and ready to start for Northern Ireland against Poland on Sunday in Nice, though whether manager Michael O'Neill selects the Norwich City striker remains uncertain.

Lafferty gave the Irish a scare when he went down in training on Tuesday with a slight groin strain, but the Fermanagh man said this afternoon that he can play.

“It’s feeling good,” Lafferty said of the injury. “I trained by myself yesterday, did a few runs, a few twists and turns and it feels good.

“Seeing the way I fell, the way I landed, I thought the worst but I came through it and got the scan results which were all clear and I’ve never felt better.

“When I had the sharpest pain in my groin, I thought the worst, as you do. But the longer the day went on, I started feeling better as I was getting more stiff and that was probably a good sign. I went for a scan and the results came back clear and it gave me the go-ahead to start training intense again. I have and I feel great.”

Lafferty has played just one full 90 minutes in 2016 and with the Irish likely to cede possession to the Poles in the heat of Nice, it will be part of O’Neill’s thinking to keep Lafferty as fresh as possible for the second game, against Ukraine in Lyon next Thursday.

Conor Washington could step up if O'Neill favours a lone striker.