The forward played for much of Gibraltar's 0-0 draw with Slovakia in November, the island's first-ever official fixture, and he claims that there is plenty of positive thinking ahead of their first full year as a UEFA-recognised nation.

Priestley plays for Evo-Stik First Division North side Farsley AFC in England but qualifies to play for Gibraltar having been born on the island.

"It's going to be a massive year because we've got three friendlies arranged for 2014 up to May and then we've got the UEFA qualifiers draw," he told Perform. 

"We're eagerly anticipating that to see who we get and then at the end of the year the qualifiers start."

Gibraltar will host their first friendly against the Faroe Islands next year before facing Estonia home and away, with Priestley looking to score his nation's first-ever competitive goal. 

When it comes to the qualifiers for the 2016 UEFA European Championships, Priestley would prefer a mix of lower-ranked sides and bigger nations.

UEFA have confirmed that Gibraltar and Spain will not meet in the qualifiers in order to avoid any unwanted political controversy given the fractious historic relationship between the two countries.

Priestley would also have no qualms in playing Spain, however, but he is well aware of why others in the squad are keen to avoid a fixture with the world and European champions.

"I think we'd want a bit of both (bigger and smaller nations)," he added.

"The one team everyone wants is England for obvious reasons - the link with Gibraltar. If we could also get a nation that's a so-called minnow and there's the potential to pick up a result then that would be great but we're confident we could pick up a result against any team after the Slovakia result."

On playing Spain, he explained: "It's different for myself and the lads living in the UK because we see Spain as a huge nation and we'd love to play against the calibre of player they have got.

"But the lads who live in Gibraltar, they know more about that (political) side so I don't know how they feel about it. It's a difficult situation and one we don't like to talk about."