Glentoran youngster gets call-up for Northern Ireland U21 qualifier against Serbia

​Northern Ireland U21 manager Tommy Wright has looked to the Irish League once again ahead of Tuesday’s Euro 2025 qualifier against Serbia after calling up Glentoran youngster Jonny Russell to his squad.
By Johnny Morton
Published 22nd Mar 2024, 19:46 BST
Updated 22nd Mar 2024, 19:53 BST
Glentoran's Jonny Russell has been called up to Northern Ireland's U21 squad. PIC: David Maginnis/Pacemaker PressGlentoran's Jonny Russell has been called up to Northern Ireland's U21 squad. PIC: David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press
Glentoran's Jonny Russell has been called up to Northern Ireland's U21 squad. PIC: David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press

​It’s a first inclusion for Russell, who has made 29 appearances for the Glens this season and helped them set up an Irish Cup semi-final clash with Big Two rivals Linfield.

The 19-year-old signed a contract extension at The Oval in November and previous manager Warren Feeney said at the time that Russell has the attributes to become a future Glentoran captain.

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He joins club teammate Charlie Lindsay, who is on loan from Derby County until the end of this season, and fellow Premiership youngsters Rhys Annett, Josh Archer, Ethan McGee (all Linfield), Sean Stewart, Odhran Casey (both Cliftonville), Benji Magee (Loughgall) and Dylan Sloan (Larne) in the squad for Tuesday’s fixture in Leskovac.

Wright’s side will be looking to bounce back from Thursday’s 3-0 friendly defeat to Czechia and are searching for a second qualification victory – they currently sit fifth in the six-team group which is topped by Ukraine.

“We’re disappointed, not with how we played...we passed the ball really well in the second-half but with the manner of the goals we’ve given away,” Wright said after the match. “We switched off for the first two goals and then we concede the set-play which isn’t us really.

"We had opportunities in the second-half and should have got back to 2-2.

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"Charlie Allen is clean through, rounds the goalkeeper and he brings him down and the referee plays on.

"We changed the shape in the second-half to 3-5-2 from the 4-3-3 we played in the first-half and how we’re wanting the players to play in possession of the ball was really good, but it was that final third again.

"The difference was they had that bit more quality than us in the final third and hence we lost 3-0.”

Related topics:Tommy WrightGlentoranSerbia