Tommy Wright gets his new tenure as Northern
Ireland Under 21 boss up and running on Thursday afternoon. The former international goalkeeper's reign kicks off with a home clash against Luxembourg in the Euro 2025 qualifiers. It is the opening game of the campaign, with
Northern Ireland also set to face
England, Serbia, Azerbaijan and
Ukraine in Group F. Ex-St Johnstone manager Wright has assembled a strong Under 21 squad, which includes West Ham United striker Callum Marshall who was involved in Michael O'Neill's senior squad earlier in the year. This is the first of two games in a crunch double-header for Northern Ireland, with Thursday's game followed by a testing trip to Slovakia to face Ukraine U21s on Tuesday. We will bring you live goal and score updates from Thursday's game at Mourneview Park in Lurgan. Key Events Welcome! 10:42 11:02 Gareth Fullerton Recap of the NI squad Goalkeepers: Dylan Berry (Havant and Waterlooville, on loan from Norwich City), Stephen McMullan (Fleetwood Town), Josh Clarke (Celtic). Defenders: Carl Johnston (Fleetwood Town), Jack Scott (Linfield), Sam McClelland (St Johnstone), Brodie Spencer (Motherwell, on loan from Huddersfield Town), Sean Stewart (Cliftonville, on loan from Norwich City), Micheal Glynn (Larne), Michael Forbes (West Ham United), Craig Farquhar (Larne). Midfielders: Darren Robinson (Derby County), Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), Patrick Kelly (West Ham United), Charlie McCann (Forest Green Rovers), Jamie McDonnell (Nottingham Forest), Ross McCausland (Rangers), Charlie Allen (Leeds United), JJ McKiernan (Morecambe), Charlie Lindsay (Derby County). Forwards: Callum Marshall (West Ham United), Chris McKee (Linfield), Ciaran McGuckin (Rotherham United). Share Comments 10:53 Gareth Fullerton How does qualifying work? According to UEFA... The nine group winners and the three best runners-up (not counting results against sixth-placed teams) will qualify directly for the final tournament in summer 2025 alongside hosts Slovakia. The other six runners-up will progress to the November 2024 play-offs for the last three finals spots. Share Comments 10:46 Gareth Fullerton Betting odds N Ireland 3/10 Luxembourg 13/2 Draw 4/1 Odds from McLean Bookmakers Share Comments 10:45 Gareth Fullerton New captain Tommy Wright has named former Linfield man Carl Johnston as the captain for the qualifiers. The Fleetwood Town midfielder has been involved in the Under-21 set-up for the past two years. Wright said: "Carl will be the captain, he's experienced and one of the older players in the group." "I'm sure he's extremely happy and he will get all the support from the rest of the players." Share Comments 10:45 Gareth Fullerton Wright excited by the challenge Northern Ireland U21 manager Tommy Wright (Image: William Cherry/Presseye) Tommy Wright is hoping the Northern Ireland Under-21s take a good week's preparation into their Euro 2025 qualifier with Luxembourg this afternoon. Wright kicks off his tenure as U21 boss at Mourneview Park today before they face Ukraine in Poprad next Tuesday. The former St Johnstone boss has been impressed by his squad in the build up to the double-header and he is hoping they can carry it into the games. He said: "I'm really excited and looking forward to it. The preparation has gone well. It has been a pleasure all week, they've worked really hard and the quality is really good. "The weather has been great and we've been able to get a lot of work done and I've been able to familiarise myself with the players. "We just have to rest now and take it into the game and hopefully it will be a winning start for me." Share Comments 10:42 Gareth Fullerton Kick-off time Today's game kicks off at 2pm at Mourneview Park. Lovely day for it as well. Share Comments 10:42 KEY EVENT Welcome! Welcome to our live blog. We will bring you goal and score updates from today's game against Luxembourg. So stick with us! Share Comments More On Northern Ireland
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