Northern Ireland goalkeeper Maik Taylor insists it is vital for the team to get off to a flying start away to Slovenia.

Three sides in Northern Ireland's group qualified for the 2010 World Cup Finals - Italy, Serbia and Slovenia - with Estonia and the Faroe Islands also in Group C.

Taylor, who will celebrate his 39th birthday on Saturday and is looking to win his 85th cap in the Ljudski Vrt stadium, declared: "It's very important that we get off to a good start. At the start of a campaign everyone is optimistic and I think to get a win in your first game sets the tone.

"It's going to be a tough, tough game, Slovenia qualified from our group in the last campaign, but we managed to beat them at Windsor Park and I felt that we were the better side for 85 minutes the last time we played them here and we were very unlucky to lose the game.

"No-one expected Slovakia and Slovenia to top the group last time round and that gives us hope to go on and better ourselves and hopefully qualifying for the Euros.

"There are no easy games now in international football and that's been our Achilles heel in previous campaigns.

"We've lost games in which people had expected us to do well in and with no easy games you have to approach each one with the right attitude and mentality and prepare properly as if we were playing one of the big boys.

"And Slovenia certainly come in to that category now - they would definitely be one of the big boys."