Worthington wants new Northern Ireland deal

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Worthington's final game before his contract expires at the end of the year was Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Serbia in a friendly at Windsor Park. He is now due to hold talks with the IFA president Raymond Kennedy and chief executive Patrick Nelsen about a new deal, convinced the province are making good progress.

"When the president is available we will sit down and have a chat. Hopefully that might be over the course of the next fortnight or whenever," said Worthington.

"I have enjoyed it. If everything is right, yes I would like to stay on. I feel we have come on in leaps and bounds. People can see we are trying to play good football and that is important to me."

Worthington has shown he is not afraid to make tough decisions, like dropping record scorer David Healy.

Healy, 30, had to settle for a second-half run-out but ended the year without a goal for the province, stretching back over seven matches.

Worthington is convinced the striker - with a creditable ratio of 35 goals in 79 games - is struggling to make an impact because he is on the fringes at Sunderland.

He said: "David was fine with my decision. I just told him I was going to start with two other strikers.

"For David, like others, you have got to work hard to get in the first team or work hard to try and get first-team football elsewhere. It is a simple thing and I have been harping on about it for 18 months."