Nathan Collins wants to cause “mayhem” and “carnage” next March against France.
The Wolves centre-half can’t wait for the Euro 2024 qualifiers to kick-off, despite Ireland being drawn with the current world champions and World Cup dark-horses Holland.
“You grow up as a kid and you just want to play on the big stage, the fans backing you,” said Collins.
“This is a chance to do that and express yourself against the top teams, to show that we can do it, go out there to enjoy it and cause mayhem, really.
“I think on the international stage the standard has gone higher, loads of teams taking points off other big teams.
“Small teams are well set up, well drilled and they cause carnage. It’s hard to break down.
“I don’t think we are a small team, I think we have a lot of quality. France will have to set up well against up as well and I think it will be a good game.”
Collins was happy to finish the year with a win and a clean sheet against Malta on Sunday.
“It gives us a good positive, it gives us something we needed,” he said.
“I think if we had two losses, here today and Norway, we’d have been annoyed going into the new year.
“But as a team we are all looking forward to the draw, as a nation I think we are looking forward to it.
“The amount of messages I have got, people are buzzing for it. I can’t wait for it, really.”
Reflecting on the results and performances against Norway and Malta, he added: “Norway was frustrating, I actually didn’t think we played that badly.
“It was two bad set pieces, when we looked back we weren’t happy, the back three weren’t happy, as a team we weren’t happy, so we needed a reaction against Malta.
“I think to get a clean sheet today was a big thing, I think we needed that going into the new year.
“It ended on a high, we got our win, got out and have a bit more to look forward to now.”
Collins will take a few days off before returning to Wolves to train during the World Cup break under new boss Julen Lopetegui.
“I haven’t talked to him fully, I just said hello. He stayed out of the way for the last game,” said Collins.
“I think it is a nice time for a break, give him time to settle in, get to know the club and when the players come in he is ready to rock and roll, we can go full pelt.
“It’s a little mini pre-season, I think there is loads to play for, it’s a long season still.”
Wolves are bottom of the table with just 10 points from their opening 15 matches and Collins admitted: “It has been frustrating, of course.
“I think as a team we probably haven’t been as good as we should be.
“It has been annoying, the performances, individually and collectively, haven’t been as good.
“But, listen, it’s gone now, we have a break, we need to reset our minds, we have 25 games to make a difference, get the fans behind us and go again.”
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