Hunter names Euro squad

England will take on France, Norway and first-time qualifiers Armenia in the group phase which will see two sides go through to the knock-out stages.

Having failed to qualify for the competition last year, England, who are unbeaten this season, will be hoping that they can bring their good form into the tournament.

"We are all looking forward to the tournament and are hopeful we can do well," Hunter told TheFA.com.

"I'm happy with the squad. We've got some really good players who I am looking forward to seeing in action.

"It wasn't easy cutting my list of players down to 18 but it is good to have that sort of selection problem as it means we have strength in depth.

"The three sides we are up against are all there on merit and it will be a really good test for my boys to see how they do."

England qualified for the tournament in some style and were one of five sides to win all three of their matches.

They got off to a good start with a 1-0 win over Denmark at Gresty Road and they followed that up with another single goal victory over Sweden, Dexter Blackstock scoring a last-minute winner. In their final game at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road stadium, England saw off Moldova with a third consecutive 1-0 win.

Hunter has made only a few changes from the squad which played in those qualifiers with John Ruddy, Matthew Bates, Matthew Fryatt, James Morrison and Mark Noble all receiving call-ups having missed the matches in March.

England will be hoping that players such as Lee Holmes (above), Ryan Jarvis and Dexter Blackstock can carry on their superb form, with Holmes impressing most of all, scoring four goals for the Under-19s so far this season.

Manchester United's Richard Jones (below) is another player who has done well with the team this year, picking up six caps whilst Southampton's Martin Cranie and Phil Ifil of Tottenham have been regulars at the back.

Sunderland's Grant Leadbitter is one of only three players to have played every match this season and it was he who stroked home the winning goal against Moldova in March.

England are ranked as Europe's top side in UEFA's seeding system and will be confident of progressing through to the latter stages of the competition especially with Spain, Italy and Portugal, traditional powerhouses of youth football, failing to qualify.

The competition starts on 18 July and will be covered extensively here on TheFA.com.

England U19 Squad, UEFA European U19 Championship, July 2005