JIM CRAWFORD’S Irish U21 side face a crucial match away to Sweden tomorrow (kick-off: 5pm, live on RTÉ2).

The hosts will be looking to avenge a loss at Tallaght Stadium last November when Ollie O’Neill scored with the last kick of the game to hand his side all three points.

Despite that defeat, Sweden sit top of the group, ahead of Italy on goal difference.

Bosnia are third and Ireland are fourth, though a win tomorrow would bring Crawford’s team to within a point of the Swedes while also having a game in hand.

Ireland then finish their group campaign in June, facing Bosnia and Montenegro at home before a trip to Italy, with either automatic qualification or a play-off place up for grabs if they finish first or second.

Crawford is consequently hopeful he can guide Ireland to U21 qualification for the first time in the country’s history.

“Qualification is in our hands if we can win,” he says. “Automatic qualification too, with Montenegro taking points off Italy the other night, so that’s certainly the aim to go and win [against Sweden].

“So it’s a huge game, it’s probably for me the most important U21s game to date. I think the players have got to deal with this kind of environment to go on and impress with the senior team. The players know the importance of it. It’s going to be a fantastic learning environment for them, to be playing in games of this stature.”

The Irish side could be even better off in their group had it not been for a few costly slip-ups earlier in the campaign, including a 2-1 loss to Montenegro and a 1-1 draw with Luxembourg, both of which came on the road. 

“Look, we can all be disappointed when you drop points, certainly away to Montenegro, where we had quite a few claims for penalties that weren’t given.

“We got a penalty, we didn’t score it; against Luxembourg away, we had a penalty we didn’t score and they’re the fine margins. Had we scored them, we’d be in a totally different situation at the minute.

“But there’s no point in looking back and being disappointed. The thing is you’ve got to look forward and learn and embrace those disappointments.

“As I’ve said before, this U21s team, yes it’s about development, but how you develop is learning from adversity, learning from those mistakes and kicking on. As a team hoping to qualify for the European finals, but [also] as an individual, can you tidy up on little things in your game that can springboard you into the senior team?”

Ireland will be travelling to Sweden without some important players — Eiran Cashin, Festy Ebosele, Evan Ferguson and Will Smallbone are all unavailable.

Smallbone misses out due to illness, Ferguson is returning to his club for treatment, English-born Cashin’s international paperwork hasn’t been completed in time and Ebosele doesn’t feature for family reasons.

Crawford admits these absences are frustrating while adding: “You’ve got to carry on. It opens doors for others. Those players won’t let themselves, their clubs or their country down if needed.”

As a result of these withdrawals, St Patrick’s Athletic defender Joe Redmond has been handed a late call-up, having trained with the squad last week.

“I’ve had Joe when I was the U18s head coach and he’ll never let you down,” says Crawford. “He’s got a hell of a lot better. He’s had an unbelievable start to the season with St Pat’s. I’ve seen him play a few times this season and he’s been in fantastic form, a real defender and reads the game very well. Fantastic distribution of the football too and these are all the types of things we look for in players we’re bringing into the group.”

Meanwhile, Irish skipper Conor Coventry recognises the importance of three points tomorrow, particularly in such a tight group.

“You can see that with the points difference between the five teams,” he says. “No disrespect to Luxembourg but for the other five that are above them, the points difference is so close. We’ve seen that ourselves, going out to Montenegro, it’s a really tough place to go. 

“It’s a tight group, everyone has got quality and attributes and [recent results] just show how hard a win is at this level.”

Having played 22 times at this level, Coventry is the most capped 21s player in the Irish squad currently.

He is therefore hoping he can end his underage career in a fitting fashion, by making it to a major tournament.

“It would be incredible really because I see how hard the staff work, how much it means to them and how much it means to the boys. We’re such a close group and I don’t just mean me and the boys, I mean the staff as well. We love going away and being together and if there is any way we can prolong that, it would mean so much and then never mind the history of it, which would be massive as well. It would mean everything for us to qualify.”

This week on the Front Row – The42’s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness – panellist Eimear Considine makes a welcome return… and she’s brought her Ireland roommate, Hannah O’Connor, along too. They chat about broken noses, tanning routines, initiation songs and balancing the Women’s Six Nations with teaching, plus how one fan named her child after Ireland winger Beibhinn Parsons! Click here to subscribe or listen below:

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