Egan wants Ireland to lay down early marker

IRELAND U19 captain John Egan called on his teammates to focus on one game at a time as they prepare to get their UEFA Championships campaign under way in Romania.

Egan, son of Kerry GAA legend John, who won nine Munster titles, six All-Irelands, four national leagues and five All Stars in his time with the Kingdom, is relishing the challenge of Greece in tomorrow’s first game.

“Some of the pundits think that we may have been dealt with an easier group at these finals, missing out on the big teams such as Spain and Turkey but I can guarantee that every player in this squad are mindful of the threat that teams such as Czech Republic, Greece and hosts Romania possess,” he said.

“With just eight teams at these finals, every team are here on merit and we will not be taking anybody for granted.”

Taking on the Greeks tomorrow (7pm) is Ireland’s first appearance at the tournament since 2002, having reached Romania by qualifying ahead of Italy, Ukraine and Poland.

But the youngster, whose skills were honed at Sunderland, has called on his side not to think too far ahead.

“It doesn’t matter what stage of the competition we have been in, if it was the first or elite qualifying phase, we have always concentrated fully on our first game and getting a positive result.

“It is important to start the tournament strongly and a win or a draw would get us one step closer to a semi-final spot.”

Paul Doolin’s side take on the Czech Republic on Saturday with the final group game taking place against hosts Romania on this day week. Spain, Turkey, Serbia and Belgium will form Group B. The semi-finals are scheduled for July 29 with the final taking place on August 1.