Town duo Josh Carson and Cormac Burke will be in action for the Northern Irish U19s against Belarus in the second game of their European Championships qualification mini-group in Belfast this evening. Carson, who skippers the side, was unhappy with the way his team collapsed to a 5-1 defeat to Germany in their opening fixture on Thursday.
Carson said: "I was very disappointed with the result. We did all right in the first half and it was a bit quiet in the second half, but some of the lads found it tough and hard going. I think the players got through it all right.
"As soon as we went 1-0 down the heads dropped but we just need to keep battling on and do what we did in the first half. I just think some of the lads need to get the heads down and keep working hard, me included."
The 18-year-old, who was his side’s standout performer in that game, says they need to replicate their first half performance against the Belarusians: "We are going to have to start the way we started against Germany, hopefully with us taking the advantage.
"Belarus isn't the greatest country, everyone knows that, but we just need to go out and our mindset has to be the same as it was against Germany in the first half and hopefully we will get the result."
The Northern Irish youngsters take on Montenegro in their final game on Tuesday.
Photo: Action Images/Jason Cairnduff