'I felt a pain in my calf - it was a blood clot'

In June, Jamie Reid was playing for Northern Ireland against Spain. Later that summer, he was sidelined with a blood clot in his leg.

It had been a strong season for the striker, who had made his international debut at the age of 29 after impressing on his way to netting 21 times for Stevenage.

However, his plans to hit the ground running for the new season were put on hold after the "scary" experience.

"In the summer time I did a lot of flying and I just felt a pain in my calf. It ended up being a blood clot," Reid told BBC Sport NI at Northern Ireland's training camp in Manchester.

"I was in a foreign country when I got told, so it was quite scary."

While Reid was able to train, he wasn't allowed to take any contact until he was given the all-clear by the medics.

"It was quite concerning. It was something new to me and I've never experienced it before, and none of my family have.

"That was frustrating. I was out for a few months with that. I was able to train, just non-contact.

"But I'm back now and just want to put it behind me."

Now fully recovered, Reid says he is "absolutely delighted" to be back with Northern Ireland.

Somewhat of a late bloomer to the international stage, Reid scored on his debut against Romania in March at the age of 29, and has now won four caps.

After missing September's matches as he recovered from the blood clot, he says he can "put it behind me".

"I haven't really had a pre-season, so it's like I'm playing League One games to get fit, which isn't ideal.

"But I'm feeling better with each game and each training, so hopefully I can get back to a place where I was."

Northern Ireland travel to Hungary to face Belarus, a game that will be played behind closed doors due to Uefa restrictions, on Saturday before Bulgaria visit Windsor Park on Tuesday.

"I love it here and being in this set up. It's a real privilege," said Reid.

"I don't have a lot of international experience, these young boys probably have more than me. But I've played a lot of games, through the lower leagues and up to League One, and I feel like I've adapted everywhere I've gone."

Since the international careers of David Healy and Kyle Lafferty came to an end, Northern Ireland have often struggled for prolific goalscorers.

Of the squad to face Belarus and Bulgaria, Josh Magennis is the highest scorer with 11 goals, followed by Paddy McNair, who often plays in defence, with seven.

However, Reid feels that any of the current options available to O'Neill - including Magennis, Dion Charles, Callum Marshall, Lee Bonis and himself - can find the net on a regular basis on the international stage.

"I feel like all the forwards in here can be prolific. They are all good strikers," added Reid.

"The games I have played have all been against tough opponents, so I haven't really seen too much of the ball.

"Maybe in these games where the playing field might be a little bit more level, maybe I can show a bit more of what I can do."