Conor Kane, Michael O'Connor, Trevor Clarke all named in Irish U19 squad for Euro Qualifiers

Republic of Ireland Under 19s Head Coach Tom Mohan has named an 18-man squad for the forthcoming matches in Belgium.

Mohan’s charges will contest a four team Elite Qualifying Group for the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Hosts Belgium, Sweden and Italy will provide the opposition in Group 7 and only the group winners will qualify for the finals in Georgia this July.

Mohan is under no illusions about the size of the task, which gets underway with a match against the Italians on Thursday.

“The aim is to qualify, and to qualify we’ll have to top the group. We’ve done a lot of analysis on all the teams in the group, but at the moment our big focus is on Italy. We can’t look beyond the first game. We will be doing our utmost to add to what has already been a fantastic week for Irish underage football following the success of the boys and girls Under 17s.”

Mohan has taken the opportunity to work with the squad this week. Despite some withdrawals through injury, the Head Coach is satisfied with the preparation.

“The training camp has gone well. The majority of players have come in injury free which is a bonus though some players have been unable to train through injury but our medical team is working on having them available for the Italy game.

“Connor Ronan who had been excelling with the Wolves first team recently has been ruled out of the three games, he picked up an injury a couple of weeks ago. Another player absent is Steven Kinsella (Dundalk) who was injured last weekend while Jake Doyle Hayes (Aston Villa) is also unavailable for the first two games through suspension.

“However, we’ve still got a lot of quality players and the strength of the 18 we have selected shows the depth we have available to us at both under 18 and under 19 level. A number of Jim Crawford’s under 18 squad have forced their way into the squad following some very good performances at under 18 international level and club level. The players are in good form, they’re focused and ready to face the task ahead,’ Mohan added.

The full squad is:

Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (Bournemouth)

Defenders: Corey O'Keefe (Birmingham City), Canice Carroll (Oxford United), Darragh Leahy (Coventry City), Conor Masterson (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham United), Conor Kane (Drogheda United), Tyreke Wilson (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Zack Elbouzedi (West Bromwich Albion), Jayson Molumby, Daniel Mandroiu (Brighton & Hove Albion), Conor Levingston (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Stephen Mallon (Sheffield United), Daniel McKenna (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Trevor Clarke (Shamrock Rovers).

Forwards: Michael O'Connor (Shamrock Rovers), Ronan Hale (Birmingham City)

Full details of the Group 7 fixtures are as follows:

Thursday, 23 March: Republic of Ireland v Italy, FC VW Hamme, Belgium, KO 18:00

Saturday, 25 March: Republic of Ireland v Sweden, Freethiel, Beveren, Belgium, KO 13:00

Tuesday, 28 March: Republic of Ireland v Belgium, Freethiel, Beveren, Belgium, KO 18:00