Washington keen to lead line for Northern Ireland

QPR striker Conor Washington says he's determined to become Northern Ireland's main source of goals.

With Kyle Lafferty's club situation hampering his fitness, and injuries affecting Will Grigg, it looks like Washtington has worked his way into Michael O'Neill's favour as his preferred forward.

He certainly helped his cause last Sunday, getting the 2nd in the 2-0 win over Norway at Windsor Park. That strike marked his first competitive goal in green, and continued his run of scoring at home.

4 of his 10 caps have seen him play in Belfast, where he's scored all 3 of his intentional goals.

"It's such a special atmosphere for me to play in front of, I really do enjoy it," he said.

His goal on Sunday made the game secure. He hassled the Norwegian back line, running off the shoulder of the last defender - something he'd previously highlighted as a strength of his game. It meant Northern Ireland were more comfortable keeping the ball on the surface into the final third, and the visitors struggled for possession.

In the first half, Captain Steven Davis found himself in space and made use of Washington's pace to send him clear. However, the striker says the work of the Southampton midfielder makes his job easy.

"Playing in front of people like Davo, you can make any run and you know he'll find you. I've just been trying to stay onside - but I felt like there was a lot of space out there."

Northern Ireland have now taken a more secure grasp of 2nd place in Group C, pulling clear of Azerbaijan, where they'll play their next qualifier on the 10th of June.

Washington says the squad won't look to other nations to do them any favours in other fixtures, and will just focus on themselves.

"We want to revel in this result and enjoy this performance, but obviously we can't do that too much. We've got a busy summer coming up with some important games there."

Northern Ireland will also take on New Zealand on Friday the 2nd of June at Windsor Park in Belfast.