England MU17s will make their first appearance on home soil for this season, when they take on Denmark and Czech Republic this month.
Kevin Betsy’s Young Lions have been on their travels so far this season, competing in the Syrenka Cup in September before playing Germany and Spain in Pinatar last month.
But they’ll now have the chance to show a home crowd what they can do, with games at Alfreton Town and Solihull Moors.
Betsy has included two new names in his squad, such as Sunderland goalkeeper Adam Richardson and Arsenal defender Daniel Oyegoke with the rest of the group having previously featured this term.
“We’re playing two strong teams who are doing well in their EURO qualification campaigns, they’ve beaten a lot of top nations at U16 and U17 year groups,” said Betsy.
“They have very good players, a good way of playing and are coached very well, so the challenges of that will be great for us.
“It’s also an opportunity for us to look at some more players, assess the depth in our squad in a variety of positions and see how they perform and adapt to playing for England in international games.
“We look at the depth across the country, and across Europe, to make sure that the players who come in would fit in easily to all aspects of our work , understand the way we play and our environment so when they’re called upon, they’re ready as they can be.
“It’s not necessarily about consistently picking the best group at a particular time, at this stage it’s about mapping out a final squad for this year’s EUROs and giving players an opportunity for later on in the pathway.
“We’ve got some players with us from October, some from September and some from the U15 and U16 year, but we’re still looking at new players along with improving our togetherness as a group, intricacies in our style of play and being flexible with our formations.”
The first game is with the Danes on Friday 15 November (7pm) at Alfreton, before they’re in action again on Tuesday 19 November when Czech Republic visit Damson Park in Solihull.
Tickets for both games are available at each venue on the night and priced at £1 for children and concessions and £5 for adults.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Coniah Boyce Clarke (Reading), Tobi Oluwayemi (Celtic), Adam Richardson (Sunderland)
Defenders: Luke Badley-Morgan (Chelsea), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), CJ Egan-Riley (Manchester City), William Fish (Manchester United), Zane Monlouis (Arsenal), James Norris (Liverpool), Daniel Oyegoke (Arsenal)
Midfielders: James Balagizi (Liverpool), Nohan Kenneh (Leeds United), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Charlie Patino (Arsenal), Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa), Jadan Raymond (Crystal Palace), Rico Richards (West Bromwich Albion)*, Alex Robertson (Manchester City)
Forwards: Louie Barry (Barcelona), Karamoko Dembele (Celtic), Amadou Diallo (West Ham United), Lewis Dobbin (Everton), Lewis Richardson (Burnley)
* Replaces Harvey Elliott (Liverpool),
