MATTHEW LUND hopes that his goal-scoring performance against Bedworth United can put him in contention for Burton Albion’s clash with Bristol City tomorrow night.
Lund played an hour of the Birmigham Senior Cup clash, which came just a day after he had returned from international duty with Northern Ireland, and opened the scoring with a first-half strike as the Brewers beat Bedworth 3-1.
The midfielder hasn’t featured for the Brewers since he started in the Carabao Cup third round match against Manchester United in September, but he hopes that his performance at The Oval will have impressed Nigel Clough ahead of Friday night’s game.
“I haven’t played since the Manchester United game, so it was good to get some minutes. The lads played well and scoring is always a nice feeling.
"It's a night where I had to prove that I'm raring to go.
"Hopefully I'm in the manager’s plans for Friday and that's the way you look at it."
Lund didn’t feature for Northern Ireland in either of their final two World Cup qualifying games as Michael O’Neill’s side fell to defeats against Germany and Norway, having already secured a play-off spot in their group.
The midfielder, who has three caps for his national side, hopes that he can help Northern Ireland get to the 2018 World Cup, but knows he must perform for the Brewers to earn a place in the squad, should they make it to Russia.
He said: “There are still two games to play (the World Cup play-offs) and the you still have to get picked, so I have got to play here (for Burton) and hopefully stamp my authority on the team.
“Obviously, I want to get time on the pitch and hopefully that will come.”