ENGLAND C manager Paul Fairclough wants his new England C charges to show what they’re all about when they take on Latvia Under-23 today.
There will be 13 new caps from the 16-man squad as Fairclough assesses his options ahead of the upcoming International Challenge Trophy tournament.
After a 6-1 trouncing of Bermuda back in June, and two more friendly matches to come before their group opener in Slovakia next May, the Three Lions boss wants plenty of competition.
That means every player will get at least 45 minutes to impress in the England shirt and stake their claim for future caps.
“It’s an official game so you do run the risk a little bit because we will use all our subs at half-time,” Fairclough said. “One of these days it’s going to catch us out and we’re going to have to play with ten men.
“But I’m not going to bring lads out this far for a friendly game and just give them 20 or 30 minutes.
“The whole purpose of this journey is to look at the players in preparation for the tournament which kicks off, for us, in May.
“As it was for the players in Bermuda, it’s a great opportunity for them. We have had to hit the ground running, literally, we went out on the beach on Sunday to get the game and journey out of their legs. Then we trained Monday and tinkered a little bit with set plays this morning.
“We’ve told them to go out and enjoy themselves – want them to go out and show us how good they are.”
Only Forest Green Rovers‘ James Norwood and Dover Athletic keeper Mitchell Walker travelled to Bermuda.
Both played the second half with Norwood scoring a stunning hat-trick in the rout in the Caribbean sunshine.
Elsewhere, there is a return for Braintree stopper Nathan McDonald, who last played in Russia 18 months ago.
The rest are first-times with Nuneaton Town’s Louis Moult a late Saturday call-up after Cambridge United attacker Luke Berry had to withdraw with a dead leg.
Squad: Nathan McDonald – Braintree Town, Mitchell Walker – Dover Athletic, Joe Oastler – Aldershot Town, Bradley Wood – Alfreton Town, Ben Richards-Everton – Tamworth, Cheyenne Dunkley – Kidderminster Harriers, Danny Andrew – Macclesfield Town, Gaz Dean – Nuneaton Town, Keanu Marsh-Brown – Barnet, Harrison Dunk – Cambridge United, Ryan Donaldson – Cambridge United, James Armson – Nuneaton Town, Jake Hyde – Barnet FC, James Norwood – Forest Green Rovers, Matty Pearson – FC Halifax, Louis Moult – Nuneaton Town
Kick off at the Jelgava National Sports Centre in Latvia is 5pm local time (3pm UK time) – you can follow @MattBadcock_NLP on twitter for updates.
