AIDAN Davison will find a silver lining in the cloud that hangs over his Burnden future when he joins the international ranks tonight.

The Wanderers 'keeper, whose season was thrown into turmoil when he was leapfrogged in the Premiership pecking order by new signing Gavin Ward, makes his debut for Northern Ireland against Sweden.

Davison is one of seven changes Bryan Hamilton is forced to make for the Belfast friendly after having his squad decimated by injuries and suspension.

Durham-born but qualified for Ireland because of his ancestry, Davison established himself as No 2 to Alan Fettis when he came through a trial with the B squad last month. He gets his big chance against the highly-rated Swedes because the Nottingham Forest keeper has pulled out with a hand injury. The representative honour is a reward for the patience, perseverance and progress he has shown during his three years as understudy at Burnden to Keith Branagan.

But things have turned sour on the club front. Davison appeared to be set for a Premiership run when Branagan was sidelined with a knee injury last month but he was given just two games before Ward was signed from Bradford City in a £300,000 deal.

Davison is one of three Bolton players on international duty tonight. Gudni Bergsson captains Iceland in Estonia while Sasa Curcic is hoping to help Yugoslavia make a successful start to their World Cup qualifying campaign against the Faroe Islands in Belgrade.

John McGinlay's B-test with Scotland in Denmark last night lasted just 45 minutes. The Burnden striker, hoping to re-establish himself in the full squad, was one of three players substituted at half time in the Scots' 3-0 defeat in Nykobing. But coach Craig Brown, still anxious to leave his options open for Euro 96 assured all the players that he was drawing no final conclusions from the performance.

Southampton will be without Barry Venison and Mark Walters - both suspended - for the big relegation showdown at Burnden on Saturday.

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