Northern Ireland Under-21 manager Tommy Wright says his players “should embrace the challenge” of facing European champions England in their Uefa Euro 2025 U21 qualifier at Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday night. The game, which will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, will pit Wright’s team against an England side which has Ben Futcher in temporary charge in the absence of regular manager Lee Carsley, who is in a similar role with the England senior team for their Nations League openers.

England sit second in Group F on 18 points, with six wins and a defeat from their opening seven qualifiers as Ukraine top the table following their six opening wins. Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes have ended as they are fourth in the group with two wins and four defeats from their six outings.

“They [the players] are excited about it and who wouldn’t be?” Wright told BBC Sport NI. “We were looking through their squad and we reckoned it was worth about three quarters of a billion, with a lot of Premier League players and the Bundesliga and the top end of the Championship in England. It’s a great challenge for us and one we are looking forward to, one the players should embrace and really go out and enjoy.”

Wright’s Under-21s lost 3-0 to England when the sides met at Goodison Park in November and have since lost 3-0 to Czechia in a friendly and defeated Serbia 2-1 away in a Euro qualifier. “We did really well [against England], it was 40 minutes before they broke us down,” reflected the former St Johnstone manager. “Since then we’ve put in two good performances, even though we lost to Czechia, and an excellent performance against Serbia. That was a game we weren’t expected to win, we lost the friendly game a few days before it, but we changed the system, played a back three, and the players responded really well.”

Wright believes his Northern Ireland side has what it takes to cause their opponents problems in Friday’s meeting even though England have already earned 9-1 and 7-0 wins over Serbia and Luxembourg in Group F. “We’ve got players who can play and hurt the opposition. We do understand that we are playing against the best team in Europe but we’re going to make sure we go out and give everything we can. “Ballymena is a slightly smaller pitch, a slightly narrower pitch, so that is one of the reasons why we wanted to go there.”

Facing the European Champions

Take a look up and down the England Under-21 squad and the clubs the players represent and it is a who’s who of underage football. There are three from Liverpool, including Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott; Manchester City have two; Aston Villa have three, all of which are strikers.

It led to Northern Ireland Under-21s manager Tommy Wright, partly in jest but also somewhat seriously, getting his staff together and trying to work out just what they are up against when they clash with the defending European Champions at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

“We did a rough count and worked out their team probably costs just shy of a quarter of a billion pounds, so there’s going to be an array of talent we’re up against,” says the underage boss, almost in awe. “I’m excited. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great opportunity for me as a coach and the staff but a massive opportunity for the players to go against a team that would beat many full international sides given the talent they’ve got.

“They have Premier League players, players playing in the Bundesliga, in the top level of the Championship. That’s the challenge, to go up against them and get a result. All our preparation has been about getting a result, it’s not been geared towards keeping the score down. We believe we can get a positive result out of the game.”

Northern Ireland know that only a win will do for them if they are to keep their slim Euro 2025 qualification hopes alive in Group F. Fourth in their pool with just six points from their opening six games and already unable to top the group, should they allow England to get a point from the tie then they would be mathematically out of the running.

Realistically, that would only be a stay of execution anyway, and more than likely this is a chance for Northern Ireland to put their hands up against arguably the best opposition they will face for a few years, something that Wright would love to see his team succeed at. They can take plenty of confidence from their last outing, however, when they turned in a superb performance in Leskovac to defeat Serbia 2-1, Charlie Allen and Craig Farquhar supplying the goals in an impressive win, and Wright is eager for them to kick on from that display.

Can Northern Ireland Cause an Upset?

“Be positive, be brave when we have the ball. That’s something we have to improve on since the last time we played (England),” he begins. “We should take confidence from our last game away to Serbia against a good side, where we did have long periods of possession. It’s about having confidence in your own ability.

“They are good players, we have good players. They may not be playing at the same level as the English players but they all have, I believe, big careers ahead of them. They have a great platform individually and collectively to show how good they are. Even though it was six months ago, that’s the nature of international football, and we’ve lost a few players like Ruairi McConville and Odhran Casey and Craig Farquhar — they were excellent for us that night — but, on the flipside, since then we’ve had Aaron Donnelly and Michael Forbes back.

“Any win gives you confidence. This squad are, for the most part, the same squad, so they’ll take a lot of confidence from that. The Under-21 job is a difficult job, as you know, because you don’t always get the players you want. Our captain, Carl Johnston, has just been called up to the senior squad and we’re delighted for him, he’s been our most consistent player.

“That’s the nature of the beast. I have to make sure the players are developed and even in defeats we have to take lessons from that. The main opportunity for me is to develop these players into future international players and that’s what these games help us do. What better opportunity to showcase how good you are than against the European Champions?”

Last time the two sides met, at Goodison Park in November of last year, it was a pair of Liverpudlians that did the damage for England, then managed by now senior interim boss Lee Carsley. Tyler Morton gave the home side the lead in the first-half before Elliott, who leads the entire qualifying stage with seven goals in as many games, grabbed a double after the restart to take the game away from the visitors.

That, for Wright, goes back to where he feels Northern Ireland have to improve the most as a team when he talks about that bravery and believing that, even though they don’t have the same experience as their English opponents, they can match them blow for blow.

“There has to be confidence. If there isn’t, you won’t be able to perform,” adds 31-times capped former international. “There’ll be nervousness, as there will be in every game, there’ll be a little bit of anxiousness, but there’s always a confidence that we can go out and put on a good performance and make it as difficult a game for England as we can.”

Home Advantage Could Help

And, as always, home advantage certainly does play its part, especially where Northern Ireland fans are concerned. “Let’s hope we can give them a performance. The Green And White Army always get behind the team as much as they can,” smiles Wright. “We had a small number over at Goodison when we played the last time and they made a lot of noise, so let’s hope we can get as many as we can inside the Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday night.”

Squads

Northern Ireland Under-21 squad Goalkeepers: Stephen McMullan (Caernarfon Town, on loan from Fleetwood Town), Pierce Charles(Sheffield Wednesday), Josh Clarke (Celtic).

Defenders: Sean Stewart and Shea Kearney (both Cliftonville), Carl Johnston (Fleetwood Town), Tommy Fogarty (Birmingham City), Michael Forbes (Bristol Rovers, on loan from West Ham United), Aaron Donnelly (Nottingham Forest), Jonny Russell (Glentoran), Tom Atcheson (Marine, on loan from Blackburn Rovers), Ethan McGee (Linfield).

Midfielders: Patrick Kelly (Doncaster Rovers, on loan from West Ham United), Barry Baggley (Waterford, on loan from Fleetwood Town), Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), Justin Devenny (Crystal Palace), Darren Robinson (Hartlepool United, on loan from Derby County), JJ McKiernan (Lincoln City), Charlie Allen (Linfield), Euan Williams (Gillingham).

Forwards: Dale Taylor (Nottingham Forest), Matty Lusty (Larne), Makenzie Kirk (St Johnstone).

England Under-21 squad Goalkeepers: James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday, loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Sam Tickle (Wigan Athletic), James Trafford (Burnley).

Defenders: Charlie Cresswell (FC Toulouse), Callum Doyle (Norwich City, loan from Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton), Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Nathan Wood (Southampton).

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough), James McAtee (Manchester City), Tyler Morton (Liverpool), Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth).

Forwards: Jamie Gittens (Borussia Dortmund), Liam Delap (Ipswich Town), Sam Iling-Junior (Bologna FC, loan from Aston Villa), Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town), Jaden Philogene (Aston Villa), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa).