FIVE or six, eight or 10, the only number that matters relating to the Euro 2020 draw for Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis is three – meaning a return to winning ways.
Three is also the number of the pot that Michael O'Neill's men will be in for next month's draw, along with the Republic of Ireland, meaning that the island rivals cannot be pitted against each other in qualifying.
Finland, Serbia, and Turkey are the only other nations that the Irish sides cannot meet, as they will also be in Pot Three, with five more teams to be confirmed in that category once the Uefa Nations League group stage comes to a conclusion.
The UNL is over for Northern Ireland – for now at least. They (and the Republic) may well be involved in play-offs in late March of 2020, but at this point their focus is on the Euro 2020 qualifiers which will commence in March 2019.
Both Irish teams could be in a five- or six-team group in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, meaning either eight or 10 matches next year, but Davis is hoping only for 'a kind draw' – although after their ill fortune in the Nations League he is not optimistic of such an outcome:
"I don't really mind [whether it's a five- or six-team group]. Hopefully the draw is kind to us in terms of the nations we pull.
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"We've played against good nations in the Nations League and shown we can compete, so we'll be confident going into the group stages and determined to go and achieve something again.
"You know whoever you play of the top seeds, it's going to be difficult. I'm not sure there's a kind draw in that seeding. I don't know. We'll just see who we get and look forward to the games."
Indeed Davis insists that Northern Ireland can still look forward optimistically despite four defeats in the Nations League B3 against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria:
"We've been playing against some good opposition and put in some really good performances overall.
"So, as hard as it is at this moment in time, there are definitely positives to take and I think we're in a decent position going into the group stages in March."
Having said that, he knows 'moral victories' count for nothing in a group table: "There are definitely a lot of positives to take from the performance [at home to Austria on Sunday night], but we don't want to get into that mind-set where we keep saying that without getting results."
The Southampton clubman, who turns 34 on New Year's Day, reckons he hasn't had such a bad run of luck on the international scene, commenting: "I don't think so, not in terms of getting the performances we've had without getting results.
"I've definitely had periods where we maybe haven't been playing well and not picked up results.
"To show the consistency we have and not get the results has been difficult to take, but I think the dressing room is still upbeat. We can still see the bigger picture.
"I think sometimes you go through little periods in football where you don't get what you deserve all the time. Hopefully that's our bad luck out of the way and we can really kick on.
"We know how important it is to get off to a good start in the qualifiers, so we'll be ready for that come March and really focused and determined to secure that spot.
Davis has been impressed by the younger talent that has come into the panel and even the team in recent months:
"I think the squad is getting stronger and that's obviously down to the experience Michael has given the younger players. All the younger players have really stepped up and shown what they can do, so that'll stand us in good stead for March.
"We'll look forward to the draw and hopefully go on and achieve something special again…
"There have been a lot of good experiences for the young players this campaign and we'll look forward to the Euro 2016 draw now and hopefully make a good start in the qualifiers."
The challenge for Davis now is to force his way into a struggling Southampton side, having barely played in the Premier league so far this season.
With Olly Norwood suspended on Sunday night, the skipper showed his versatility by playing in the deepest role of the midfield three and liked it:
"Obviously we're trying to play slightly differently now in terms of building from the back, so I enjoyed getting in there and getting on the ball.
"I sort of tired a little bit towards the end of this game having not had the game-time at club level, so hopefully between now and March I can get myself back in the team and get some minutes."
Overall, although Northern Ireland had no points to show for their Nations League efforts, Davis feels that doesn't paint a true picture: "If you look back over the last five or six games, performance-wise this is probably as well as we've performed consistently.
"We've definitely played worse and won in the past, so there are a lot of good things that we've done and a lot of positives to take.
"Maybe a little bit of fine tuning and being a bit more clinical at this level, which we've already spoken about".
