Connor Wickham picked up his second England U19 cap this afternoon in a 4-0 victory over Cyprus in the second game of their European Championships qualifying mini-group in Belgium. Academy duo Josh Carson and Caolan Lavery were in the Northern Ireland side which lost 2-1 to Germany.
Wickham, who started and netted on his debut in Friday’s 6-1 win against Albania, came on as a 76th minute sub but failed to get on the scoresheet this time around with Arsenal’s Benik Afobe grabbing a hat-trick and Liverpool’s Jonjo Shelvey also on the scoresheet.
England, who have already qualified for the elite qualifying stage, complete their group fixtures with a game against Belgium on Wednesday.
Midfielder Carson and striker Lavery were in a Northern Irish U19 side which was desperately unlucky not to claim a point from their game against hosts Germany in their qualifying mini-group, the Germans scoring the winner three minutes into injury time. Town defender Rory McKeown was again an unused sub.
Northern Ireland, who drew 0-0 with Switzerland in their opening fixture, face Andorra in their final match on Wednesday.
The Northern Irish youngsters can still qualify for the next phase if they beat Andorra, Switzerland lose to Germany in their last game and if they have a better goal difference than the Swiss.