Republic of Ireland Under-19 manager Sean McCaffrey has named his 18-man squad for the upcoming UEFA Elite phase qualifying series which will be staged in Ireland from 14 - 19 May.
Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes is included in the panel, fresh from helping the Black Cats clinch promotion to the Premiership last weekend.
The second, Elite qualifying phase group pits Ireland against Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. The four nations are set to play each other on a round-robin basis with only the team that finishes top of the group advancing to the Under-19 European Championship Finals, to be staged in Austria from 16-27 July.
Ireland will open their group against Bulgaria on Monday, May 14th, followed two days later when they host Germany. They conclude the series on Saturday, May 19th by facing Hungary.
Apart from Irish senior International Stokes, who has scored 16 times this season during spells with Falkirk and Sunderland, McCaffrey has been able to call upon seven other players to have already sampled first-team football with their clubs in Britain.
Captain Eddie Nolan along with Michael Spillane, Robert Bayly, Stephen Gleeson, Adam Rooney, Keith Treacy and Cillian Sheridan have all featured in league action whilst many other squad members are pressing for a breakthrough at club level.
McCaffrey expects Ireland's path to the Finals to be a difficult one but is confident that his squad contains the right blend of quality, experience and determination to negotiate their way to the Championships.
"The players have worked hard to get into this position where they know they are just three games away from reaching the UEFA Finals," he said. "I had to make some difficult decisions in selecting this squad but have chosen the players who I believe can carry us through three demanding fixtures over a six-day period. The presence of Anthony Stokes in the squad is a big boost and I expect him to compliment the rest of the attackers including Adam Rooney - our top scorer so far this season," the manager said.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U19 SQUAD:
Stephen
Henderson
Aston Villa
Shane
Redmond Nottingham
Forest
Simon
Madden
Leeds Utd
Scott
Davies
Reading
Edward
Nolan
Blackburn Rovers
Michael
Spillane
Norwich City
Darren
Dennehy
Everton
Shane
Lowry
Aston Villa
Alan
Judge
Blackburn Rovers
Alan
Power
Nottingham Forest
Stephen
Gleeson Wolverhampton
Wanderers
Matthew
Cassidy Bolton
Wanderers
Robert
Bayly
Leeds Utd
Keith
Treacy
Blackburn Rovers
Adam
Rooney Stoke
City
Aidan
Downes
Everton
Anthony
Stokes
Sunderland
Cillian
Sheridan
Celtic
