Academy first-year scholar Jonathan Smith has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for the UEFA European U17 Championship qualifying mini-tournament they are hosting next month.

The Northern Irish youngsters will play Latvia, Turkey and Luxembourg with the games on November 14th, 16th and 19th respectively. The top two finishers plus the better third-placed sides go through to the next round.

Striker Smith, who joined the Blues’ youth set-up this summer, tweeted: “Over the moon, No feeling like playing for your country.”

Meanwhile, another first-year frontman Cemal Ramadan is likely to be in action for the Republic of Ireland’s U17s this afternoon in the final game of their UEFA U17 qualifying group in Yerevan, Armenia.

Ramadan and his team-mates face group leaders England with both sides already through to the next qualification phase.

Photo: Action Images

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