Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis has claimed that it was important for his team to end their World Cup qualifying campaign on a positive note following Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Israel.

The midfielder scored with 20 minutes left in Tel Aviv to earn his side a point in their final fixture.

Despite finishing in fifth place in Group H, Davis believes that Ireland can take plenty of confidence from the match against Israel.

"It was important for us to finish the group on high," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "We had spoken about that before the game because there has been a lot of work put into the campaign with little reward.

"We've been able to compete in each and every game but we haven't really had the results to show that.

"This gives us something to build on for the future but I thought this time we got a decent result back."

Davis returns to Premier League action with Southampton on Saturday when they travel to champions Manchester United.