Steven Davis has the desire to keep playing for NI - McAuley
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Gareth McAuley and Steven Davis have 200 Northern Ireland caps between them
Former Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley says record-breaking captain Steven Davis "still has plenty left in his legs".
Rangers midfielder Davis won his 120th cap, surpassing Pat Jennings, as NI reached the Euro 2020 play-off final by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
Davis, 35, is now only five caps away from Peter Shilton's UK record.
"Do you know what keeps the legs going? It's the desire. He still has that for club and country," said McAuley.
Ian Baraclough's men have a Nations League double-header at home to Austria and a trip to Norway to round out the current international triple-header.
Another three games follow in November, starting with the crucial play-off final with Slovakia to decide who reaches the rescheduled Euro 2020 finals, which means Davis could equal Shilton's record by the end of the year.
McAuley admits he fears Davis may hang up his international boots after the Euro 2020 finals, should Norther Ireland make it, but with World Cup qualifying beginning prior to the European competition he is hopeful he will stay on for another campaign.
"If we get to the Euros he might think that is enough to prolong his club career, but nobody knows. They are only second guessing," added McAuley, who retired last year.
The young players want to learn
While McAuley highlighted the importance of keeping Davis playing a Northern Ireland shirt, he emphasised the need to blood youth into the team.
"What he brings is massively important. We have got to look to the future and what is coming behind," he said.
"Davo, being the person that he is, will be passing on his knowledge and helping those guys - a father-like figure or mentor.
"He'll give back as much as he can while he is playing, and he is still at a high level."
Daniel Ballard stepped into the senior squad under Ian Baraclough
As a former Under-21s manager, Ian Baraclough has brought Daniel Ballard, Shayne Lavery and Alistair McCann into the senior squad, with the former two players featuring in September's Nations League campaign.
"The big thing for me about Daniel Ballard was he asked questions, he wanted to learn and he wanted to know," added McAuley.
"You would see him in the gym away from the training pitch, and to me that was a great sign for a kid who was so young. He has lots to learn and he handled a baptism of fire well in Romania.
"Other young players coming in, they are confident but they want to learn. That is the pleasing thing for me as an older player who has been through it.
"It's a big jump from the Under-21s, but there's going to be a transition period when new players and faces are going to come in. The smoother we can do that the better."