McLaughlin has Euro vision

Conor McLaughlin thinks the expanded format of the Euros has given every country belief they can reach a major tournament.

Fleetwood full-back McLaughlin has played every minute of Northern Ireland's three qualifying games so far and Michael O'Neill's men are the surprise early leaders in Group F after a trio of victories. Their chances of reaching the finals in France in two years' time have been increased by the fact the tournament will comprise of 24 teams, rather than 16, meaning those that finish third in the group stages have a chance of qualifying too. McLaughlin, who only made his international debut over the summer, is an advocate of the new system. "You listen to all the home nations - they're all saying the same thing," the 23-year-old said. "I don't know if it's the change in qualification with three teams, it's given a lot of smaller nations a lot of confidence that they can get to a major competition. "I saw on Twitter a list of group leaders so far and there's only a couple of teams who are top seeds so that proves the point." Northern Ireland have never been involved in a European Championships finals and McLaughlin was not born when they last reached the World Cup in 1986. But the laid-back defender admits nobody on the other side of the Irish Sea is getting carried away just yet. When asked what it would mean to make history and qualify, he replied: "It would be beyond belief. "You get messages on Twitter already and the fans are all buzzing, but they themselves know with the tough times the smaller countries have had it can easily change with a couple of results. "They're trying not to get ahead of themselves even though we've had a good start; they're trying not to get too excited." McLaughlin is flying the flag for his club too after being the first Fleetwood player to receive international recognition while on the Cod Army's books. That was another landmark in the club's incredible recent history and McLaughlin is hoping their ascent can open doors for others too, such as Wales hopeful Chris Maxwell. "To go away and have the recognition of being the first international for Fleetwood - it's something I'm very proud of," McLaughlin said. "A year or so ago people maybe wouldn't have been looking at clubs in League Two so to get that recognition straight after the play-off final, it's something that doesn't regularly happen. "Hopefully for Maxi he gets the chance as well because he's a great goalkeeper and hopefully he can get into the Wales squad."