Should the province achieve a victory against Sweden in a Euro 2008 qualifier at Windsor Park tomorrow morning they will overtake their opponents at the top of Group F.

The last time Northern Ireland enjoyed such heady success was in December 1988 when they led their World Cup qualifying group but failed to make the finals.

While Sanchez remains cautious about their prospects, he has given an insight into how his methods have helped the players make rapid progress at this level.

He said: "I just try to stimulate their imagination, in training, in hotels, to show what can be achieved.

"It is important the players know they are here on merit and believe in themselves.

"But I say to them 'I can show you a way to make yourself better'.

"After three years a lot of the squad believe the evidence of what we are trying to do."

Sanchez knows, however, that Northern Ireland will need all that self-belief and more when they face the unbeaten Swedes.

It will be a completely different test to the qualifier in Liechtenstein, which resulted in an emphatic 4-1 victory at the weekend.

"The next stage of the development is getting the team to say this is what I want to achieve rather than me saying it all the time, " he said.

"It is taking ownership of the team. That is a big step for players as a lot like to be told what to do. But it helps breed confidence.

"You could see a growing maturity about the side in Liechtenstein. We were patient after a difficult start.

"But we know that Sweden are an entirely different proposition as they have made regular appearances in finals."

After losing to Iceland in their opening qualifier, Northern Ireland have responded brilliantly.

They stunned Spain in the next game with a 3-2 victory and have also beaten Latvia and Liechtenstein.

The province also won plaudits after taking a point off highly-fancied Denmark in Copenhagen.

No-one seems to have grown more under Sanchez's stewardship than David Healy.

The Leeds striker will be looking to improve on his remarkable tally of 27 goals in 55 international appearances.

Healy is in a rich vein of form and scored his second hat-trick of the campaign against Liechtenstein.

With seven goals in the campaign he is level with Germany's Lukas Poldolski at the top of the scoring charts.

Healy said: "Northern Ireland play as a team and I get great service.

"I consider it a great honour to play for my country and to be joint top scorer is a great thing.

"I am really pleased we are doing well for the fans and hope we can continue to do so for the remainder of the games."

Sanchez said: "David is a world-class finisher. We play to his strengths and he rewards us all the time.

"He is a modest lad and very popular with his team-mates as well as the fans.

"We are lucky to have him and this is a great achievement."

Sanchez is forced to make one change as Sheffield United winger Keith Gillespie is suspended.

One or two options are open to the manager.

Burnley's Steve Jones or the pacy Ivan Sproule of Hibernian could come into that spot.

The other alternative would be to employ Damien Johnson on the right flank and bring Grant McCann - who scored at the weekend - into a midfield holding role.