Danny Griffin believes Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 rivals will fear them rather than the other way around.
The former international, who is now a community and development officer with his old club St Johnstone, has talked up his country’s chances in their first major championship finals in 30 years.
The Irish get Group C underway with a match against Poland tomorrow, then it’s Ukraine, followed by an encounter with world champions Germany.
The fact that Northern Ireland are coming into the tournament with the longest unbeaten run of any of the competing nations should fill Michael O’Neill’s men with confidence, according to Griffin, and make the other three sides in their pool worried.
“I wouldn’t like to be a country coming up against Northern Ireland at the minute,” said Griffin, who won 29 caps.
“With the unbeaten record they’ve got I’m sure the likes of Poland, Ukraine and even Germany are wary of them.
“They won’t be looking forward to facing them because they are in such good form.
“They have momentum and a brilliant mentality of working for each other.
“They are going into it as group winners and I believe they can get out of the section.
“Nobody will relish playing them, other countries will be afraid of them because they know they’ll have a go.
“After winning the group nobody will be thinking of them as minnows in the competition, they’ll get plenty of respect.”
Griffin, who played with O’Neill in the green and white, couldn’t fail to be impressed with the job the ex-Dundee United and Saints man has done as national manager.
“Michael was a very good player and he’s a great manager,” he said.
“The one thing he doesn’t do it let his teams sit back and that has been shown throughout the campaign.
“He’s always got them going forward. He’s a winner.
“He has signed a four-year deal and for the country’s sake I hope he stays on.
“But when someone has done as well as he has, you would expect teams to take notice.
“If he has a great Euros then the world is his oyster.”
If the world does become O’Neill’s oyster the next cab on the rank could well be current Saints boss – and former assistant to O’Neill with Northern Ireland – Tommy Wright.
“I’d imagine the gaffer here would be in the frame if that was to happen,” Griffin said.
“With the job he’s done here on the budget, getting to fourth in the league the last two years and winning the Scottish Cup, his record is fantastic.
“He started out at the bottom in coaching and that’s a massive thing because he’s done it the hard way.
“He’s worked at it so hard and what you put in is what you get out.
“He’s got loads of respect from the players here, everyone understands what work ethic they have to have to play here.
“That’s the same with Northern Ireland under Michael O’Neill. “
Alan Mannus is part of the Northern Ireland squad in France and Griffin had a chat with his fellow countryman before he left McDiarmid Park for the summer.
“I spoke to Alan and wished him all the best,” Griffin said.
“It’s terrific for him and for St Johnstone to have a player at the Euros.
“He’s been around the international scene for a long time so it’s great for him to get that recognition to be part of the squad.
“I’d love to see him get some game time during the Championships because it would be huge for him.“
Griffin doesn’t feel jealous at the opportunity that lies in wait for the current crop of Northern Ireland internationals.
“What I’ve done in my career nobody can take away,” he explained.
“We never really had a chance of qualifying during the time I played.
“At that time we were ranked 100 in the world or something, now they’re sitting at 25.
“When I played we had a lot of good players but not everyone was playing regularly for their clubs.
“That isn’t the case now, Kyle Lafferty is probably the only one and look how well he’s done.
“International football goes in cycles, you get some times when you’re up and others when you’re down.
“It was a battle for us, we were fighting all the time.
“I made my debut against Germany just after they won the Euros in 1996 and that was one of the highlights of my career.
“I should have had more caps but injuries prevented that from happening.”
Lafferty has been the headline-maker in the qualifiers but Griffin believes another former Rangers player, Steven Davis, will be the main man over the next few weeks.
“Steven Davis is the most important player in Northern Ireland’s team,” he pointed out.
“In my eyes, he’s one of the best midfielders in the English Premier League – and he’s certainly the most underrated.
“He was excellent as a kid when he broke through into the international team, he was just coming into it when I was leaving.
“I think we played two games together and you saw straight away that he had a real chance.
“He just makes what he does look very easy and that’s why the team is built around him.
“He’s a huge player for the national team and if he has a good tournament, which I’m sure he will, then Northern Ireland will do well.”
