Hume ready to take on greater leadership role with NI

Northern Ireland defender Trai Hume says he is ready to take on greater leadership responsibilities if asked to step up by manager Michael O'Neill.

Hume, 22, has won 13 caps for his country and has established himself as a mainstay in their defence.

With Manchester United's Jonny Evans having announced his retirement from international football last week, Hume is prepared to emerge as a new leader for O'Neill's young squad.

"I’ll speak to him about. I wouldn’t mind because growing up I captained younger age groups so maybe I have that in me," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I want to help younger players that are coming through and lead them.

"It’s going to be different. When I first came in there was Steven Davis, Jonny and Craig Cathcart, a lot of experience, so it is going to be a big change."

Hume was the subject of intense speculation about his club future this summer after impressing for Championship side Sunderland since his move to the Black Cats from Linfield in 2022.

Despite rumours of a move away, Hume said that he was calm about the situation.

"I try and not worry about it [rumours], I let my agent deal with that and I worry about my football," he commented.

"I’m really enjoying my football at Sunderland and I’ve said that since I’ve been there, so I was just focusing on that."

Although a move didn't materialise this summer, Hume does still harbour ambitions of playing in the Premier League in the future.

"That’s a dream [to play in the Premier League] whether that is with Sunderland, which I hope it is, or if someone comes in and buys me. Hopefully it will happen one day but I’m not in any rush."

Hume is excited for the start of the Nations League and a long-awaited return to Windsor Park on Thursday as Northern Ireland host Luxembourg in their first home game since November.

O'Neill's side have won just one of their 16 games in the competition, but Hume hopes recent positive results can help them start the campaign off with a win.

"We're going to try win every game. I think we showed that against Scotland and Romania especially, they were two friendlies, but we went there to win.

"Even against Spain, they are one of the best sides in Europe as they've shown but we did try our best to get a result and we're here to win games."