Northern Ireland Under-21s boss Tommy Wright has included five new faces in his squad for next month’s trip to Georgia.
Leicester City midfielder Ryan Donnelly, Arsenal striker Ceadach O’Neill, Everton forward Braiden Graham and Dundalk frontman Eoin Kenny have all received their first call-ups to the U21s after playing for their country at youth level.
And there’s one newcomer, too. Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Francis Hurl (19) joins the Northern Ireland set-up for the first time.
Fleetwood Town keeper Stephen McMullan, who is currently on loan at League of Ireland side Waterford, was due to be in Wright’s panel, however he has switched to the senior squad following an injury to Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles.
The U21s manager is happy with the younger newcomers to the squad. “We want to promote and push players and give them exposure to higher levels of international football as early as we can,” he said.
Northern Ireland’s men’s Under-21 side are set to meet the Georgians, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Malta in the 2025-27 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying group stage (Group F).
Georgia are second seeds in the group, with Germany the top seeds, and Northern Ireland will begin their qualification campaign for U21 Euro 2027 away to the Georgians on 9 September. They will prepare for that game with a training camp in Loughborough.
The following month the U21s will face both Malta and Germany at home - on 9 and 14 October respectively - at The Oval.
And game number four is also a home fixture at Glentoran FC’s ground in east Belfast. It’s against Latvia on 13 November.
Wright has made changes to his backroom staff for the upcoming campaign.
Former St Johnstone striker Steven MacLean has joined as assistant manager. MacLean, who has also managed St Johnstone as well as Queen’s Park in his native Scotland, played for Wright when he was the Saints boss. He played for Scotland at youth level.
Also joining as a coach is Northern Ireland international Corry Evans. The former Hull City, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland midfielder, who has 69 caps for his country, is still playing professionally. The 35-year-old is looking for a new club after departing EFL League Two side Oldham Athletic earlier this summer.
Conor Brennan is the new goalkeeping coach for the U21s. He steps up from Northern Ireland’s Under-19s.
Brennan is Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Rangers. Currently searching for a new club, the 31-year-old keeper previously played for Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Raith Rovers, Ballymena United, Greenock Morton, Brechin City, Dumbarton, East Kilbride and Stenhousemuir. He represented Northern Ireland at U16, U17, U19 and U21 level.
Josh Wall has also joined Wright’s backroom team ahead of the new campaign. He is currently Academy Performance Analyst at AFC Bournemouth, covering U9s to U21s.
Paul Stephenson (assistant manager), Roy Carroll (goalkeeping coach) and Adam Mahony (analyst) have all left the U21s set-up.
The 23-strong Northern Ireland U21s squad for the game against Georgia next month features:
Goalkeepers – Fraser Barnsley (Everton), Josh Clarke (Celtic), Francis Hurl (Huddersfield Town).
Defenders – Tom Atcheson (Blackburn Rovers), Conor Barr (Cliftonville, on loan from Derry City), Tommy Fogarty (Birmingham City), Sam Inwood (Bolton Wanderers), Shea Kearney (Dunfermline Athletic), Matthew Orr (Linfield), Johnny Russell (Glentoran), Michael Forbes (Northampton Town, on loan from West Ham United).
Midfielders – Ryan Donnelly (Leicester City), Patrick Kelly (Barnsley), Jamie McDonnell (Mansfield Town, on loan from Nottingham Forest), Darren Robinson (St Patrick’s Athletic, on loan from Derby County), Dylan Sloan (Larne), Francis Turley (Celtic).
Forwards – Aodhan Doherty (Blackburn Rovers), Braiden Graham (Everton), Eoin Kenny (Dundalk), Makenzie Kirk (St Johnstone), Liam McStravick (Airdrieonians), Ceadach O’Neill (Arsenal).
