Devine and Burns named in Northern Ireland U-19 squad

Senan Devine and Matthew Burns have been named in the Northern Ireland Under-19 squad which will pay two friendlies this month ahead of Euro qualifiers next month.

Gareth McAuley’s U19s are set to take on USA U19s on Saturday (October 11) and then Switzerland U19s next Tuesday (October 14), with both games being played in Marbella, Spain.

The match against USA is due to be staged at La Quinta Football Centre (3pm kick-off local time), while Marbella Football Centre is the venue for the match against the Swiss, which has a 6pm start local time.

U19s boss Gareth McAuley has chosen a 22-strong squad for the trip to the Costa Del Sol including Devine, currently on loan at Harland and Wolff Welders, and Sunderland midfielder Burns.

All the players involved have previously played for their country at either U16, U17, U18 or U19 level.

The U19s will be competing in Group 13 in the qualifying round of U19 Euro 2026 qualifiers in November.

They are due to face Malta (12 November), Azerbaijan (15 November) and Czechia (18 November), with all games being staged in Malta.

The squad for the games in Marbella is as follows:

Goalkeepers – Will Murdock (Manchester United), Josh Gracey (Wolverhampton Wanderers).

Defenders – Conor Haughey (Fleetwood Town), Callum Leacock (West Ham United), Noah McDonnell (Aberdeen), Calum Moreland (Aston Villa), Senan Devine (Harland and Wolff Welders, on loan from Coleraine), Coist Walker (Hull City), James Simpson (Larne), Keevan Hawthorne (Cliftonville).

Midfielders – Dylan Stitt (Luton Town), Jack Doherty (Fleetwood Town), Callum Burnside (Rangers), Sean Corry (Derby County), Blaine McClure (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Rangers), Kalum Thompson (Nottingham Forest), Troy Savage (Burnley), Brandon Downey (Portsmouth), Matthew Burns (Sunderland).

Forwards – George Feeney (Tottenham Hotspur), Braiden Graham (Everton), Paul McGovern (Glenavon).