SLOVAKIA may not boast the big name strikers that Bailey Peacock-Farrell has faced in his career so far but the Northern Ireland goalkeeper knows never to relax on the international stage.
Before the play-off semi-final away to Bosnia & Herzegovina most of the focus was on Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic – but it was the lesser-known Rude Krunic who opened the scoring.
Marek Hamsik, formerly of Napoli, is the star attacking name for tomorrow's visitors but 24-year-old Peacock-Farrell won't only be worrying about him:
"It's all split-second [reactions]. Before a game we will watch the players, their threats. For example against Bosnia there was Dzeko and Pjanic. We watched them so you are aware of their ability.
"Everyone playing international football is of a high quality. They can all put it into the top corner or chip you on a one v one. There is a good range of abilities. You have got to respect every opponent and every player.
"It's a split-second thing about a player taking the ball and having a shot so you are not really thinking 'Oh God, it's Dzeko taking the shot' rather than whoever else. You are just there to do your job. I need to prepare myself for a top corner rather than a name."
Although he's only had two League Cup games since his move to Burnley in the summer of 2019 one of those was against Manchester City in late September. Although Raheem Sterling (twice) and Ferran Torres scored in a 3-0 win for City, 'BPF' performed admirably.
Similarly, although an under-strength, barely fit NI were crushed 5-1 by Norway at Windsor Park in early September, only an own goal went past Trevor Carson in the mid-October return, a match Peacock-Farrell sat out after aggravating a hip problem in the warm-up.
When close to full strength, the keeper has confidence in Northern Ireland's ability to restrict opponents: "Collectively as a squad we are really good at not conceding too many and working for each other.
"One of our strengths is that we will work for each other and run ourselves into the ground for each other and we will always be there and we will certainly have that on Thursday…
"I have played against Germany, Holland, against City, they all have top strikers. When you perform against those countries or teams it does give you that belief and I have that as a benchmark.
"I know I can perform to that level so what is the difference between performing against Germany and Slovakia? There is not any as such. It is a game of football at the end of the day."
Having been called up in May 2017, Peacock-Farrell is seeking to qualify for his first international tournament:
"That's the dream, to reach a major tournament. It would mean so much to me to be able to do it for the first time.
"Some of the lads have done it once and if we were all able to do it again it would mean so much to everyone on Thursday night.
"Throughout the camps I've been on in the last two or three years there have been conversations and memories that would pop up.
"As one who wasn't there I love listening to the stories and hopefully I will be a part of those memories for the years to come…Hopefully we can make our own mark and I can start having those sort of conversations about 2021. That's the aim.
"I am really looking forward to it. It's certainly the biggest match so far in terms of what is at stake and it's an exciting challenge ahead."
