JONNY Evans is relishing the chance that his Northern Ireland side have to seal their place at the World Cup next summer.
Michael O’Neill’s men host Switzerland in the home leg of their play-off at Windsor Park tonight before they travel to Basel on Sunday for the decider.
“It’s going to be a big occasion for us as a team, and it’s going to be a big occasion for all of our supporters. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do,” said Jonny.
“It’s been a pretty chilled week for us. We’ve been carrying on and preparing as we normally do for big games and hopefully we can produce in the moment when it’s needed.
“I think with any big occasion, the most important thing is to keep our composure. That’s been a real plus for us in the last couple of years.
“In the success we’ve experienced we’ve always remained calm and composed and I think we’ve really benefitted from that when we have needed to produce, like in the last qualification process when we had to beat Greece and the lads pulled it off.
“For us, the most important thing is making sure we perform well."
Switzerland were the highest seeded team that Northern Ireland could have been drawn against, and Jonny is expecting a tough test from them.
“We’ll expect to face a team that is going to play very attacking and expansive football. They’ll probably dominate possession and it’s up to us to try and get them on the counter attack,” he added.
“The contrast of styles will make it a really exciting game.”