ICELAND have a great opportunity of doing "something special" against Roy Hodgson's men in the opinion of David Preece, the former Darlington goalkeeper with first-hand experience of football in the tiny Nordic island.

The country that give birth to football on Monday faces the smallest country to ever grace a major tournament in an intriguing last-16 encounter in Nice.

Making Euro 2016 was a remarkable enough feat for the country of just 330,000 and unable to play outside for large chunks of the year, yet Iceland's fairtyale continues and they pipped Portugal to runners-up spot in Group F.

There was a collective sigh of relief around England when Arnor Ingvi Traustason's last-gasp winner against Austria saw them avoid Cristiano Ronaldo and Co at the last-16 juncture, but Monday's match on French Riviera will not be easy.

Preece, a Sunderland youth graduate who played for Darlington in the late 1990s before going on to have spells at clubs varying from Aberdeen to Silkeborg in Denmark, knows that better than most having spent some time playing in Iceland with Keflavik - a period the 39-year-old reflects upon fondly and makes the goalkeeper realise what a tough ask lies ahead for his countrymen.

"They've shown already they can challenge," said Preece, a team-mate of Traustason at Keflavik and Emil Hallfredsson at Barnsley. "There is a very, very realistic chance for Iceland to do something special on Monday.

"They were very close to qualifying for Brazil, for the World Cup. I went to see them unfortunately lose to Slovenia when I was out there.

"This has been building and they showed against the likes of Portugal and Austria that they are capable of coming up with the right tactics to deal with teams that come at them.

"Of course it's a much better prospect for England to be playing Iceland than Portugal, but I think in many ways it's a much more difficult game.

"England have shown that when teams drop back, allow them to have possession and don't let any space between the lines, they find it very difficult to break down these teams.

"They're dominating possession but it's actually finished that possession off."

Iceland are adept at that and their impressive displays in France come thanks in no small part to a 15-year national investment plan.

The construction of all-weather pitches, both indoors and out, has enabled youth-level training to continue throughout the year, allowing players to hone their skills.

The appointment of experienced Swedish coach Lars Lagerback in 2011 took that development on, adding a tactical awareness previously missing.

"I read a book a few weeks ago called 'The Gold Mine Effect'," Preece, who left Iceland three years ago, said.

"Places like Kenya, Brazil and Usain Bolt's running club in Jamaica are gold mines where they have a lot of talent come through because simply there's not a lot to do apart from that.

"That's there only thing to do so they're fully concentrated on that. It's almost like that in Iceland where it is very sports-orientated away from school or work for adults. The facilities are there.

"If they're not working or at school, then they're doing something that is sports-orientated.

"Their investment in the facilities has meant that the simple physical traits that they've had, say like their stamina, strength, or mental robustness, can be worked on during the winter, where they can really hone their technique."

There is not just talent within the Icelandic ranks but togetherness, borne out of the island's size and the fact so many of the group came through together.

Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson and Johann Gudmundsson were among the host of players that played at the Under-21 European Championship finals five years ago and have become key players in the senior team.

"There's just no fuss about them in general," Preece added. "There's no egos.

"Lars Lagerback doesn't have to worry about any egos or looking after the players because they look after themselves.

"It's made a lot easier for him when he's putting things into place, that they are taking his direction very well. It will be a difficult game."