Following his emergence at Arsenal, read Nic Yennaris' recent England interview.
By Nicholas Veevers The Arsenal player
Nicholas Yennaris has recently emerged onto the first-team scene at the Emirates Stadium, having already been a regular for the Gunners' U18 and reserve teams, as well as the England development teams where he has been capped at U17, U18 and U19 level.
His most recent game was against
Denmark U19s at Brighton last November and here is an interview with the east Londoner published in the match programme for that game.
Nic, you’ve been a regular for the U19s under Noel Blake for the last few months and since the U18s last year. How are you enjoying it?
Yes, it’s been great for myself. I’ve been picked a few times now so I must be doing something right and I just want to keep it going.
The squad had a good trip to France for the Limoges Tournament. How did you find that?
It was a good exercise for us because there were a lot of games in a short space of time, so whilst it was it was tiring, that is good experience for us ahead of the Qualifiers. France were a very good team, Ukraine were a hard team to play against and Portugal were decent too. We were a little unlucky not to beat France in the first game, we should’ve won that but with them being the host nation a few of the refereeing decisions went their way and we had to settle for the draw.
There is a strong group of players in this year group, so it must be good to feel a part of it?
It’s a big year group and there are a lot of players who can still come into it. A few of the boys are pushing for the first teams at their clubs now as well, so there is a lot of competition.
A number of players from this year group have already moved into the Under-21 squad, so that must be the target for everyone in the U19s squad?
Yes. Noel Blake spoke to us out in France about this and I think there are six boys from our age group who have gone up to the Under-21s. So it’s something that we’re all trying to do now. In every game there’s always someone watching, whether it’s Stuart Pearce or Gareth Southgate, so you have make sure you put a good performance in.
The Denmark match is the U19s’ first home game this season and it’s the first ever international at the Amex Stadium in front of a full house and also live on FATV. How much of a great experience for all of the lads will that be?
I was surprised when I read that there was something like 20,000 tickets sold. It will be great for the team and it should be a good night hopefully. It’s great that it’s going out live too, as the more people who can support and get behind us, the better it is for the team.
Quite a few players from Arsenal have been involved with the England development teams over the last couple of season, so that must be a good thing for club and country?
There’s a big crop of youngsters that are pushing through at Arsenal and have been doing quite well with England, so it’s only good for us to see those players getting involved in international football too. When you hear that you’ve been picked, we all wish each other luck and you only have to look at how Jack Wilshere has progressed in the last few years as he has gone from the U19s, to the Under-21s to the Seniors very quickly, so you can see that it’s possible.
You’ve had a little taste with the first team at Arsenal this season. How was that?
It was a great opportunity for me. I had a bit of luck as some injuries in the squad gave me the chance to show the boss what I’ve got and I thought I did quite well, so it was a good night for me. I just want to keep working hard in training and in the reserves and you never know what can happen.
England U19s are next in action against Czech Republic at Leyton Orient's Matchroom Stadium on Tuesday 28 February. Click here for ticket details.