Yahoo News Former Portadown starlet aiming big as Northern Ireland dream edges closer
Seeing Northern Ireland's rising stars continue to shine at senior level is huge inspiration for the next crop of young talent. Michael O'Neill showed no hesitation to hand Callum Marshall his first start in the 2-0 win over Andorra on Tuesday night with Aaron Donnelly also coming off the bench to make his senior debut in Murcia.
Pierce Charles was part of the travelling squad, which featured eight players aged 21 or under, as his brother Shea and Brodie Spencer showed up well once again as Conor Bradley grabbed a brace to round off the international season in style. Northern Ireland's attention now switches to the Under-19 European Championships, which get underway here next month.
For Sam Glenfield, who is part of Gareth McAuley's squad, the chance to impress at a major tournament on home soil with a realistic pathway to the Under-21s and senior set-up is one which he is relishing. "It's massive," he said when asked about Pierce Charles' call-up to the senior squad.
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"Michael [O'Neill] isn't scared to throw young players in and you've seen that with the likes of Conor Bradley. My friends at Fleetwood like CJ (Carl Johnston) and Stephen McMullan are up there regularly so it's a great incentive to do well.
"Tommy [Wright] comes down to watch training so they keep a close eye on you and they aren't afraid to throw young players in if they are doing well."
Having someone like McAuley leading the squad into this major competition is a massive boost for the young players. Glenfield says they just can't wait to get started now.
"Big G is very much into the players pushing the standards so he leaves it to us and lets us set the standards daily, both on and off the pitch," said Glenfield, who made his Fleetwood debut against Everton in the Carabao Cup two years ago. "It's very good that he leaves it to us, gives us our own control around it and everyone is looking to impress.
"We're buzzing. Everyone is excited and all of our friends and family will be there which gives us a good incentive to kick on and do well. The spirits are great and everyone is raring to get going. We're all counting down the days.
"We were saying last week there's only around 40 days to go so everyone is excited, we're taking everything on board and looking forward to getting into the swing of things. We've been given a great opportunity to have the tournament on home soil and to qualify right through to the finals, so everyone is excited and raring to get going."
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