Crawford’s Ireland under-21s take on Turkey this Friday.
All eyes will be on Heimir Hallgrímsson’s first game as Ireland manager this Saturday, but not before the not so small matter of the Ireland under-21’s facing Turkey on Friday night in Istanbul.
Jim Crawford’s side come into the game following a promising training camp in Zagreb in June, where they picked up a 3-2 victory over Croatia and a 2-2 draw against a Three Lions under-20 side which featured notable talents such as Dane Scarlett and Jobe Bellingham.
Sitting second in their group, two points behind Italy with a game in hand and six clear of their opponents who sit in fifth place, the events of Friday night in Istanbul will go a long way to deciding Ireland’s faith come the conclusion of this group.
Turkey may sit only above San Marino in the table, but they are unbeaten in their last five games, including wins against Norway and Scotland and an away draw in Italy.
The Turks will be determined to right the wrongs of the late 3-2 opening round defeat they suffered at the hands of Aidomo Emakhu in Tallaght, but will be without goal scorer on the night and Juventus star Kenan Yildiz, who is named in the Turkish Senior squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures.
Turkey will also be missing their top scorer so far in the campaign, Erencan Yardimci, with the Sturm Graz forward not named in the squad.
The Ireland squad also has some notable absentees with Bosun Lawal, Tayo Adaramola, Tony Springett, Zak Gilsenan and Sean Grehan all missing out through injury.
Franco Umeh who has impressed at under-18 and under-23 level for Crystal Palace since joining them last year has been called up, alongside Emannuel Adegboyega who recently left Norwich to go on loan to Dundee United.
Andrew Moran, Sinclair Armstrong and Rocco Vata could potentially make up an extremely exciting attack, with all three sealing Championship moves in the summer in search of consistent gametime.
Crawford almost always sets up in a 3-5-2 against the stronger nations at this level, which is how I would expect him to set up in Istanbul on Friday night.
With attacking options such as Franco Umeh, Mark O’Mahony and Johnny Kenny to come off the bench, this Irish side certainly has the depth and quality to go and get a result.
While the senior side look to repeat the heroics of the past on Saturday night, Jim Crawford’s men will look to themselves for inspiration as they chase a first appearance at the Under-21 European Championships next year.
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