Josh Magennis says Northern Ireland's squad have "proved all the doubters wrong" as they prepare for their World Cup play-off tie against Switzerland.
A spot at the 2018 competition in Russia is up for grabs and Michael O'Neill's side will open with a home tie at Windsor Park on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Football.
Northern Ireland will only have four Premier League players in their ranks, with most of the squad coming from Sky Bet EFL clubs, but Magennis says the team knowing their strengths is a big factor in their recent success.
"Everyone will have their opinions on why we're doing so well but the most important thing for the squad is that we know how to play well," he told Sky Sports News.
"We don't do things that are beyond our capabilities, we know our strengths and obviously we have weaknesses and we don't want teams to try and exploit that but for us as a team, we know what works for us.
"We've got a fantastic base from the defence, probably most of our Premier League players play there so we know that a big part of our game comes from there and we are able to break on the counter-attack and use set-pieces as well.
"The only thing that matters is that we know why and how we're doing so well and that's because we are ready to go to war for each other and come Sunday night, hopefully that will be the case. We've proved all the doubters wrong and that doubting Northern Ireland is a thing of the past."
Charlton striker Magennis has a history of scoring in a play-off fixture, netting the opening goal for Northern Ireland against Greece in October 2015 when a 3-1 win secured their place at Euro 2016 - their first appearance at a major tournament in 30 years.
"Playing at home for your country at any stage is a privilege but to get that first goal against Greece was brilliant, especially with the magnitude of the game. It was a great one and hopefully there will be many more to come, starting with Thursday night," Magennis added.
"There was a lot of pressure, especially with Kyle [Lafferty] because he was the talisman and he scored so many goals, it was like 'who is going to step in and take his place?'.
"It'll be hard [against Switzerland] but it's something I'm looking forward to. It's the type of nights you want as a footballer. Yes, there will be added pressure, but it's something that we're more than prepared for."
Nottingham Forest forward Jamie Ward is also confident that Northern Ireland can make it past Switzerland over the coming days, and revealed one of the tactics employed by the staff to help them win.
"We know all of their players. We've got player booklets on them so we've been told to read through them before we go to bed and things like that. If we need to get to sleep, we go through that," he told Sky Sports News.
"Obviously they've got some top quality players in Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and people like that. We've got to be on our game, we can't go into it thinking it is going to be easy so we'll go in with the game plan that Michael [O'Neill] sets for us and then we'll take it from there."
Watch Northern Ireland v Switzerland on Sky Sports Football from 7pm on Thursday and the return leg from 4.30pm on Sunday November 12.