Taylor plans to crash party

Taylor: Targeting triumph

Maik Taylor believes Northern Ireland can crash Sweden's pre-planned Euro 2008 qualification celebrations on Wednesday.

Sweden currently top qualifying Group F and know a victory against Ireland at the Rasunda Stadium will seal a place in next summer's finals.

Taylor, though, insists Ireland - who can still mathematically qualify - have their own targets.

"Obviously we are disappointed with results in our last two games but we still have a mathematical chance of qualifying," said Taylor.

Pressure

"We have left ourselves a mountain to climb and nobody expects us to go through now. So the pressure is off and usually we play our best football under these conditions.

"Hopefully that will be the case against Sweden. It's going to be difficult but we will get chances on the night and maybe we can take one or two.

"These are the big games you wait for. You work hard for opportunities like this.

"We have had a good few days together and are ready for the game. They will be looking for the win but maybe we can spoil the party.

Gung-ho

"But we can't go all gung-ho and try to win the game in the early stages.

"Everyone needs to be resilient and stick to their jobs and their tasks to stay in the game for as long as we can.

"Then if we need to start chasing a goal we can take a few more risks."