Inverness attacker Billy McKay will look back on his first year as an international footballer with mixed feelings and insists he in no rush to leave the Highland club.
The 24-year-old was drafted into Northern Ireland’s senior squad for the first time by manager Michael O’Neill last November having hit a purple patch of form for Caley Thistle.
The goals kept flowing – 27 last season and eight more in the Scottish Premiership already this term – and he quickly became a regular feature of O’Neill’s group.
McKay’s eye-catching strike-rate has not gone unnoticed and Inverness were delighted to retain his services in the summer after plenty of reported interest.
While he is keen to make the best of himself, he is in no rush to end what is a productive relationship for both player and club.
“I’m happy. I’m playing regularly, scoring goals and I’m settled but you want to play as high as you can,” he said. “If things came along in the future I would have to think about it but I’m really happy.
“It’s up to someone to come in for me if they’re interested.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I can do on the pitch, scoring as many goals as I can.”
McKay is likely to be in contention for a starting spot as O’Neill ponders changes for the final World Cup qualifier in Israel tomorrow night but has so far been limited to three substitute appearances – the last two in defeats to Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.
“I suppose it’s been a bit of a mixed bag,” said McKay. “It’s been great to be involved for the first time at this level but the results haven’t been great. I think the performances have been good and we’re close to getting the results.
“Now I just want to keep performing well for my club and continue getting called up. The more times I come away the more chance I have of playing.”
He has only had one chance to score to date but had he succeeded it could have been a vital. He had a one-on-one with the Luxembourg goalkeeper with the score at 1-1 but took one too many touches and failed to convert.
“If a few things had gone differently it might have been another story,” he said. “I’ve only played three games – 13 minutes, 15 minutes, 25 minutes – and had one good chance against Luxembourg but I should have scored.
“If we’d gone 2-1 up in Luxembourg it would have been a different game altogether.
“We could have sat back and seen it out but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully, I can get another chance soon and put it away.”