Cliftonville defender Sean Stewart is fired up to help Northern Ireland Under-21s finish their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign with a flourish.
Stewart, who is joined in the squad by his Reds team-mate Shea Kearney, is looking forward to the clashes against Azerbaijan and Luxembourg this month.
Their final home game in Group F is against Azerbaijan at Ballymena Showgrounds on Saturday (3pm).
Tommy Wright’s side then conclude their campaign against Luxembourg at the Emile Mayrisch Stadium in Esch-sur-Alzette in southwestern Luxembourg on Tuesday (7.30pm).
Northern Ireland drew 0-0 with England’s Under-21s at the Ballymena Showgrounds last month before narrowly losing 2-1 to table-toppers Ukraine at the same venue.
“It’s going to be a tough game, there won’t be as many big names as the England game but it will be tough,” said Stewart, with Northern Ireland currently fifth in Group F. “We found it tough out there last year, we won 1-0 but were down to 10 men early on.
“It will be another difficult game. I also want to learn as much as I can off Stuart (Dallas).
“He’s a big inspiration for me, coming from the Irish League and made it to the Premier League.
“Hopefully, I can emulate what he has done and learn off him.
“This is a strong group, and Tommy will be looking to keep building for the next campaign.
“What Conor (Bradley) and other lads have done has showed you there is a pathway there, and it is achievable if you work hard enough and do the right things. It’s all down to the work behind the scenes.”
Luxembourg are just ahead of Northern Ireland on goal difference – both teams have seven points from eight games – and Azerbaijan are bottom of the table on three points.
Ukraine are at the summit of the group with eight wins out of eight, while England are second (19 points) and Serbia third (13 points) going into the last set of fixtures. Northern Ireland lost at home to Luxembourg in September 2023 (1-0) and defeated Azerbaijan away (1-0) last October.
Wright said: “The aim is to finish the campaign strong and hopefully win these two games.”
Stepping up to the Under-21s for the first time is West Ham United defender Josh Briggs, who has previously played for his country at U16, U17, U18 and U19 level.
And returning to the fold after recovering from long-term injuries are Brighton and Hove Albion defender Ruairi McConville and Nottingham Forest midfielder Jamie McDonnell, who is currently on loan at EFL League Two side Colchester United.
Matthew Carson, who joined National League South side Torquay United in the summer from Southampton, also returns, as does Larne midfielder Dylan Sloan.