Taylor was far from rusty at the weekend as the province drew 1-1 with Poland at Chorzow's Slaski Stadium.

Next up are Slovakia at Windsor Park when Nigel Worthington's side could go top of Group Three with only one match remaining.

Then Taylor, who turned 38 last week, will head back to the Premier League newcomers, intent on putting the heat on Joe Hart.

He said: "It is a case of knuckling down, working hard and hopefully I will get an opportunity again.

"I have been in a similar situation before and came back fighting. My aim now is to push Joe all the way.

"If I am offering competition to Joe that makes him perform better and gets us results, then great. It's not ideal for me, but at least I am contributing.

"Of course I want to play but my aim now is to be ready when the opportunity comes."

Northern Ireland were in the driving seat at the weekend with Kyle Lafferty making the breakthrough in the 37th minute with a clinical finish.

They held out until 10 minutes from time when Mariusz Lewandowski grabbed the equaliser from close range.

Lafferty is struggling to make the match in Belfast after limping off with a knee injury. He is due to have a scan today, when the extent of the problem will become clearer. Eighteen-year-old Billy Kee, on loan to Accrington from Leicester, has been called in as cover.

Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan certainly hopes Lafferty makes it.

"Kyle was having a great game and asking questions of Poland," said Craigan.

"He was winning things in the air and getting in behind them.

"That was his best 45 minutes in a Northern Ireland jersey but then unfortunately he had to come off."

Lafferty's replacement Martin Paterson could have put the game out of Poland's reach when he latched on to a ball from Steven Davis, only to fire wide of Artur Boruc's post in the 65th minute.

It proved to be a costly miss by the hard-working Burnley striker with the home side regrouping and snatching a point late on.

Meanwhile, Worthington has welcomed back Chris Brunt following a calf injury and Chris Baird, who missed the Poland match through suspension. However George McCartney has been ruled out after damaging his hamstring.