GOAL CELEBRATIONS for Luke Jephcott of Plymouth Argyle 1-0 during the Sky Bet League 1 match between Plymouth Argyle and Gillingham on Saturday 14th August 2021, Home Park, Plymouth, Devon - Photo: Dave Rowntree/PPAUK
Conor Hazard believes Plymouth Argyle move can boost his international chances
The goalkeeper, who joined the Pilgrims from Celtic in July, is in the Northern Ireland squad for their away Euro 2024 qualifier against Slovenia tomorrow
Conor Hazard believes playing in the Championship for Plymouth Argyle gives him a good chance of adding to his four appearances for Northern Ireland at senior international level.
The Downpatrick-born goalkeeper, 26, last represented his country in March 2022, when he played the first half of a 3-1 win away to Luxembourg.
Hazard has been included in recent squads under Michael O’Neill, who was reappointed as manager for a second spell last December.
The 6ft 6in shot-stopper has been an unused substitute in Northern Ireland’s first four Euro 2024 qualifiers, most recently 1-0 defeats away to Denmark and at home to Kazakhstan in June.
Since then, Hazard has completed his £150,000 transfer from Scottish champions Celtic to Argyle, for whom he has started the first five Championship matches this season.
Now he will be hoping his performances for the Pilgrims will lead to him getting a chance to play again for Northern Ireland, who have back-to-back Euro 2024 qualifiers away to Slovenia tomorrow (Thursday) and Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Hazard said: “I think it gives me a good chance. The Championship is a really high level of football and a really high-paced game.
“As long as I keep putting in good performances and keep doing the right things on and off the pitch then I don’t see why I don’t have a chance.”
Hazard first played for his country at under-16 level in the Victory Shield, an annual tournament from teams from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Perhaps surprisingly, he had little experience of being a goalkeeper before getting his first taste of international football.
Hazard said: “I was trying to learn how to be a goalkeeper. I had made the transition not long before that from, believe it or not, left-back.
“So I was still trying to find my feet and learn how to even catch a ball. I had played Gaelic (football) back home so it was quite easy to to get the hand-eye co-ordination going.
“It was just the technique of that, getting up quick, and all the little things that probably no-one else thinks about.
“I then played a lot more games from there on all the way through 18s, 19s and then captained the 21s, and then finally got a few caps from the senior team.”
Bailey Peacock-Farrell, currently on loan from Burnley to Danish side Aarhus, has been the first choice keeper for Northern Ireland recently, with Cheltenham Town’s Luke Southwood also in the squad along with Hazard.
Hazard said: “I get on really well with them. It’s a great standard of goalkeeping, not only here at Argyle but at the international set-up too.
“I think that’s where it’s going to be everywhere, at the level we are at now. You are not going to really get bad goalkeepers.
“Believe it or not, it is actually a goalie union but there is only one shirt that everyone wants to play for. I have high respect for every single goalie involved in both set-ups (Northern Ireland and Argyle) and I get on really well with them.”
Northern Ireland are fifth out of six nations in Group H of qualifying for Euro 2024. They won 2-0 away to San Marino in their opening game but have lost three in a row, a sequence which started with a 1-0 defeat by Finland in Belfast.
