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He admitted it has been a frustrating
season for him to date.
The defender said: “I got the injury at
the start and it was difficult to get a
diagnosis of what was wrong.
“It was my groin area, and there are a
lot of things going on there because
it’s where everything crosses over in
the body.
“Once I had the surgery done I got
back in the swing of things but I
haven’t been 100% until now.
“It’s really only been the last few
weeks that I’ve started to feel good
again. I picked up a couple of niggling
injuries after coming back so the
season has been a bit stop-start.
“I was in the team, then I picked
something up and was out of the
team.
“I’m hoping now I’ve put all that
behind me and spending time with
the national squad will hopefully help
and I will stay fit for the rest of the
season.”
Cathcart, who has become an
integral part of Michael O’Neill’s side
in the past 18 months, is yet to play
at the fully redeveloped National
Football Stadium at Windsor Park
as his last home appearance came
before Euro 2016.
He pointed out: “My last appearance
at Windsor was one of the friendlies
before the Euros.
“I was saying to a few of the lads
when we met up that it wasn’t
finished when I was last there - and
there was still a stand missing.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing it
now that it’s completed.
“It’s great that the game is sold out
because when we have those fans
behind us it’s incredible. I’m really
looking forward to playing there.”
Northern Ireland go into tonight’s
crucial Group C clash sitting in
second place on seven points.
Norway, who will have experienced
former Iceland and Sweden boss
Lars Lagerback in charge for the first
time, are off the pace in fifth, on three
points, but Cathcart knows they will
be a tough nut to crack.
“We want to open up a bit of a gap
between ourselves and Norway.
We’re under no illusions; we know
how tough it’s going to be but we’re at
home and we’ll have the fans behind
us,” he said.
“Our home record in the last few
years has been brilliant and we’re
confident we can give a good
performance and pick up three
points.
“There are more expectations on us
in this campaign, and rightly so, but
the lads have been able to cope with
that.
“We won’t change how we play, we
won’t worry about things and the
lads have carried on where they left
off from the last campaign, which is
fantastic.
“It’s a good sign and it’s a good
period for Northern Ireland football.
“We want to continue that for as long
as we can and at the start of this
campaign we’ve shown we can do
that.
“Hopefully we are able to carry
that on between now and the
end of the campaign to achieve
something again. It would be a great
achievement to get to a World Cup
finals.”
Words:
Mark McIntosh, The Sun
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