Northern Ireland U19s and U17s boss Stephen Frail is taking a U16 development squad to Bulgaria later this week.
The Northern Ireland boys are set to take part in a development tournament run by UEFA over a 10-day period – and the opposition will be Luxembourg, Wales and Bulgaria.
The bulk of the players in Frail’s panel have been part of Club NI, the Irish FA’s elite development programme, since the age of 12. One new face is Everton midfielder Isaac Price.
After training together on home soil on Wednesday (11 April), the players, the manager and his backroom team will jet off to the Bulgarian capital Sofia from Dublin on Thursday before transferring to Sliven in the eastern part of the country.
After a couple of training days the first competitive action for the U16 team will be a game against Luxembourg on Saturday (13 April, 11am start local time) at the Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium.
Their second game is at the same venue in Sliven on Monday (11am) when Wales will be the opposition.
And their third and final game will be against hosts Bulgaria at the Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium next Wednesday (11.00).
The Northern Ireland U16 development squad:
Conner Byrne (Glenavon), Sean McAllister (Dungannon), Jamal Tavares (Ballinamallard United), Orrin McLaughlin (Derry City), Aaron Donnelly (Dungannon), Jonah Heron (Ards), Charlie Allen (Linfield), Harry Wilson (Glentoran), Dale Taylor (Linfield), Isaac Price (Everton), Charlie Lindsay (Glentoran), Connor Manderson (Portsmouth), Lewis Mackinnon (Linfield), Stephen McGuinness (Cliftonville), Ross McCausland (Linfield), Dane McCullough (Portadown), Caolan McBride (Glentoran), Ciaran McGuckin (Rotherham), Matthew Lusty (Glentoran), Matthew Walker (Coleraine).
