Jonny Evans: 'I realised what playing for NI means' - defender set to win 100th cap

As he prepares to win his 100th international cap, Jonny Evans says he has learned to appreciate playing for Northern Ireland more and more as he has grown older.

Evans, 34, will become NI's fourth men's centurion - joining Pat Jennings, Aaron Hughes and current team-mate Steven Davis - in Tuesday night's final Nations League game against Greece.

His family have travelled to Athens to watch him wear the captain's armband on what will be a hugely proud night for the Leicester City skipper.

"I think sometimes when you are young you take things for granted," said the former Manchester United centre-half.

"I probably went through a spell in my career where I came to the realisation of how big the games were and how much they meant to me.

"Obviously going to the Euros [in 2016], qualifying for that and the culture that was created around that was probably the best experience I've had in football. It probably made me realise just how much playing for your country means."

Having made his debut as an 18-year-old in a memorable 3-2 victory over Spain 16 years ago, before he had even played a first-team match at club level for United, Evans said he expected to reach the 100-cap milestone sooner.

He was always confident of getting to a target he was determined to get to, but did admit a few injuries in recent years made him worry slightly.

And, on the eve of the occasion, he reflected on an international career which has not all been plain sailing, particularly during some of the earlier years, adding that he has never had to look too far for inspiration to keep on going.

"I probably look at my Northern Ireland career with some great highs and some lows. I've made mistakes myself, suspensions and I've been sent off," said the player who was given his debut by Lawrie Sanchez.

"You can't always look back with regret but you do sort of think you'd do some things differently.

"But I am very proud of where I am today. It gives me even greater respect for Pat Jennings, Aaron Hughes and Steven Davis and for what they've achieved.

"I'm getting lots of accolades for reaching 100, but every cap Steven plays over 100 is even more impressive. He's on 139 and will hit 140 - he's a big inspiration for everyone.

"It is a big milestone and something I've had my eye on for a number of years now and I'm glad to finally be there. I did think at one stage if I get one more big enough injury it could keep me out for a long time, especially in the last six months it might have.

"I think over the last couple of years I've had couple of set-backs, Covid situations and that, and I've ended up missing a couple of camps which set me back. I probably set my target a bit too ambitiously, I probably thought I'd have 100 caps over a year ago."

Asked to name a single highlight across his 99 Northern Ireland caps so far, Evans, whose brother Corry has played alongside him in many of his international appearances, was in no doubt what that was.

"The game against Ukraine [in Euro 2016 when NI won 2-0 to record their first-ever win at a Euro finals]. By far," he said.

"Winning a game at a major tournament. Obviously after the first game, the expectation, we'd played against Poland, didn't get the win, didn't play the way we felt like we could play and didn't impose ourselves.

"Then to come out and do what we did and everything about it - we were based near Lyon [where the match was played], the weather hit during the march [a thunderstorm forced the teams to leave the field for a short time], everything about it just created an unbelievable night. It was fantastic."

And, despite all of the highs the Premier League winner has enjoyed in the professional game, the former Greenisland Academy player said the coaches who moulded his career as a boy will be in his mind when he leads Northern Ireland out at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium.

"The thing with Northern Ireland over the years is that when we travel throughout Europe, a lot of those coaches that coached me when I was younger come to all the games," he said.

"I sometimes see them at airports or see them at matches. That is the beauty of playing for a small country like Northern Ireland with a small pool of players, you see the same faces over the years and you are able to build up great relationships.

"I see people that I sometimes haven't seen in years but they were a big part of my career and I'm very grateful."