Taylor may lead NI

Maik Taylor set to win his 34th cap for Northern Ireland

Maik Taylor is anticipating an exciting new era with both club and country.

The Birmingham goalkeeper has tied up a permanent deal at St Andrews after originally arriving on loan from Fulham.

He is also likely to be named captain when new NI boss Lawrie Sanchez names a young and inexperienced team when to face Estonia in Tallinn on Wednesday.

"It is a young squad. We had five or six experienced players retire during the last campaign,'' said Taylor.

Taylor is now one of the old school as a number of fringe players have been named ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

He is the most experienced of the present squad with 33 caps, although Mark Williams has already led his country.

But the German-born shot-stopper's experience could be vital as Northern Ireland attempt to bounce back from a defeat by Norway.

One consolation for Sanchez was that they finally ended their goal drought after 1,298 minutes in that loss.

"The manager has spent an awful lot of time in training trying to get his point of view across and the style he wants to play,'' said Taylor one of the most experienced players in the party.

"It was ironic that we finally got the goal but let four in. We did not concede many goals during the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.

If we can mix a tighter defence with a good attack we'll certainly improve from where we are Maik Taylor

"We have got a goal and that has taken a massive burden off our shoulders. If you look at the last campaign we only conceded eight in eight games. We did extremely well in that department.

"If we can mix the two together, stay tight defensively and score a few more goals, we'll certainly improve from where we are.

"A lot of the lads coming in play in the lower leagues or not even playing first-team football.

With Birmingham poised to claim a place in Europe, it is little wonder Taylor, who has signed a four-year deal, has a good feeling about the future.

"There was never going to be a problem," he said. "The clubs had already agreed the fee and as long as we stayed in the Premiership it was going to happen.''

Carroll, who was replaced by Grimsby's on-loan Hull keeper Alan Fettis, is one of eight withdrawals from the squad.

Northern Ireland squad: Taylor, Fettis, Duff, Craigan, Williams, McCann, Baird, Capaldi, Jones, Whitley, Mulryne, Sonner, Toner, Healy, Smith, Kirk.