Wickham Set to Win Second England U19 Cap
Sunday, 10th Oct 2010 10:06

Striker Connor Wickham is set to win his second England U19 cap this afternoon when his side take on Cyprus in their second European Championships qualifying group game in Belgium (KO 1.30pm). Northern Irish trio Josh Carson, Caolan Lavery and Rory McKeown could also win caps for their U19s.

Wickham netted a debut goal in England’s 6-1 thrashing of Albania in their opening match on Friday and again looks likely to start. England complete their fixtures with a game against Belgium on Wednesday.

Carson and Lavery were in the Northern Ireland U19 side which drew 0-0 with Switzerland in the opening game of their qualifying group in Germany on Friday, while defender Rory McKeown was an unused sub.

The Northern Irish youngsters have a difficult task this afternoon when they take on hosts Germany (KO 12.05pm). They complete their matches on Wednesday when they take on Andorra.

Meanwhile, Town defender Gareth McAuley says he is delighted with Northern Ireland’s start to their Euro 2012 campaign — a victory in Slovenia was followed by a draw with Italy on Friday — but isn’t getting carried away: "There's an awful lot of football still to be played so we just focus on each game.

"It is great to get some points on the board and get off to a good start for a change from the previous campaigns. But we can only look at what is ahead."

McAuley is pleased with his own season up to now: "Things are going well for me. You have just got to ride with it. I am not take anything for granted and working as hard as ever.

"It is an important stage in my career as it is for a lot of lads in this group. I still have the ambition and drive to try to achieve something."

Northern Ireland take on the Faroe Islands on Tuesday in Toftir but the 30-year-old says the match will be no walkover: "There are no easy games in football, never mind international football.

"They have [ex-Republic of Ireland boss] Brian Kerr in charge as well. He will have them organised and will have done his homework."

Elsewhere, current Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni says former Town skipper Jon Walters is in his thoughts for a future call-up: "Maybe in November we will bring in Walters from Stoke."

Walters has previously won U21 and B caps but has not previously received a full call-up.

Photo: Action Images

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