Squad named for U19 Elite Round

UEFA European U19 Championship
Elite Round Qualifying
England, Bosnia, Scotland, Slovakia
27 May - 1 June 2009
Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield United
Click here for fixture and ticket details

An 18-man squad has been named by England U19 Head Coach Brian Eastick for this month's European U19 Championship Elite Round qualifiers.

The Young Lions take on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Scotland and Slovakia in Yorkshire, where they will hope to finish top of their group and secure a spot in July's finals which take place in Ukraine.

Most of the players named in the squad have been involved with the U19 team over the course of the season, with some of them only making a late breakthrough into Eastick's plans since the turn of the year.

Sunderland winger Jordan Henderson and Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger only received their first call-ups to the squad for the game with Czech Republic in March, but have done enough to be named again whilst the likes of Martin Kelly, Kyle Walker and Andrew Tutte have only been involved in the last two games.

Dean Parrett of Tottenham Hotspur and Matthew James of Manchester United have both picked up caps for England at U16 and U17 level in recent years and they are now named in the U19 party for the first time.

Players such as Victor Moses, Danny Rose, Joe Mattock, Jason Steele and Danny Welbeck were all part of the squad which reached the finals of the same competition last year, so Eastick will be hoping they can draw on that experience as preparations begin for the opening match with Bosnia at Doncaster on May 27.

Squad in full

 * Withdrawn and replaced by Andros Townsend of Tottenham Hotspur
** Withdrawn and replaced by Declan Rudd of Norwich City.
*** Withdrawn and replaced by Gavin Hoyte of Arsenal.
**** Withdrawn and replaced by Martyn Waghorn of Sunderland.
^ Withdrawn and replaced by Matthew Briggs of Fulham.