Blues loanee Bersant Celina will be in action with Kosovo’s U21s when they take on Israel in a European Championships qualifier in Mitrovica this evening.
The Kosovo youngsters are currently third in their group as they aim to qualify for the finals which are being jointly hosted by Italy and San Marino in June 2019. The winners of the nine qualification groups plus four runners-up will go through to the finals.
The 21-year-old is a regular with the senior international side, he has won eight full caps, scoring once, with his only previous Kosovo U21s appearance in June’s qualifier in Norway, the country where he grew up and with whom he played at U15, U16, U17 and U21 levels before switching allegiance to the nation of his birth after they were admitted to UEFA and FIFA.
The on-loan Manchester City attacker skippered his side in that game, which ended 5-0 to the home side before subsequently being declared a 3-0 Kosovo win as the Norwegians fielded a suspended player.
Looking ahead to tonight’s match, Celina, who took his goals tally with Town to six during Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Preston, said: "I expect a good game against Israel. I think we have a great chance of winning. We play in front of our fans and we have to use this opportunity to get three points.
"We have a good opportunity to secure the qualification for the European Championships in Italy, but we have to be focused match after match.”
Celina and the Kosovo U21s are in action again on Tuesday when they take on Azerbaijan in Baku.