Sunderland striker David Healy has slammed Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington for questioning his players' fitness.

Healy has rarely featured for the Black Cats and he now fears for his place in the NI team with Kyle Lafferty and Martin Patterson scoring at club level.

"Nigel basically blamed the players (after the 2-0 defeat by Hungary) which was disappointing," he said.

"Is he going to do the unthinkable and leave the hero, the messiah, out?"

Healy told the Belfast Telegraph his move to the Stadium of Light from Fulham in a £1m deal in August has been a "disappointment".

However, he has no regrets about the move and is determined to succeed at the Premiership club.

Healy was not happy with Worthington's remarks and he knows his place as the spearhead of Northern Ireland's attack is not guaranteed.

"There were five or six of us who weren't playing regularly," he added.

"If Nigel wants to make a point coming into the qualifiers where if club players aren't in the team and leave me out that comes down to him to make the big decisions at the tight times.

"If the big decision is going to come, if the axe is going to come down on me it's down to Nigel.

"I have proved in the past that I can come back and play for Northern Ireland.

"People forget that I'd a lot of tough times, a lot of games where I wasn't 100% fit."