Ireland coach John Bracewell in confident mood ahead of ODI series

Ireland head coach John Bracewell is confident they can cause an upset when they face England in their upcoming two-match ODI series, live on Sky Sports.

Bristol hosts the opening match on Friday before the action moves to Lord's on Sunday, with the Irish hoping they can repeat their stunning success over England in the 2007 World Cup, when they recovered from 111-5 to claim a three-wicket win in Bangalore.

England could prove to be a different proposition on home soil but Bracewell believes they can beat any team in the world on their day.

"Historically, it's massive. The guys have been looking forward to this for a long time," Bracewell told Sky Sports News HQ.

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"The opportunity has come round and they are pretty excited about it. We are as competitive as any side and they have proven that over the last 10 years.

"On their day, they are capable of knocking over one of the big teams and that is what we aim to do over at least one of these two games, hopefully both."

Ireland still retain hopes of achieving Test status one day and Bracewell says they have made great strides towards fulfilling that ambition.

"That's one of the great dreams and, once again, historically that's what they have been working for," he added.

"They have got a lot of processes in place and now let's see what happens. You never know in cricket until you cross the line."

Watch England v Ireland on Friday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 HD at 10:30am.