Henderson says two ‘cup finals’ waiting

For the first time during the 24 years of the U21 Uefa championship, Ireland approach the tail-end of their qualifying campaign in contention.

It’s prompted midfielder Conor Henderson to liken this evening’s tie in Hungary to a cup final. Only victory in Kecskemét will maintain Ireland’s ambitions heading into Monday’s final qualifier in Italy, so it’s good news for his country that Henderson’s own experience as a rising star at Arsenal has taught him to deal with such high-pressure situations.

A full six points from the pair of games would secure Noel King’s side a play-off shot at reaching next year’s European Championships in Israel.

Achieving a win against the unbeaten Italians in Casarano next week may appear a long shot, yet Henderson, who turns 21 on Saturday, is of the view that accounting for Hungary would set up the ideal scenario for his squad.

“This may be a qualifying group but it is knockout at this stage and we’re treating these games as two cup finals,” said the Londoner, of whom great things were forecasted when he made his first-team debut early last year.

“Losing to Turkey last month was hard to take because we did enough to get a result but we’re confident of winning this one to bring it to the last game in Italy.”

Henderson will earn his second competitive U21 cap in the midfield of Noel King’s side, though they are without striker James Collins.

Swindon Town boss Paolo Di Canio was keen for the frontman, who scored a hat-trick in last week’s 4-3 League Cup victory at Stoke City, to stick around for this weekend’s League One tie against Leyton Orient, a predicament which forces him to miss both international fixtures.

IRELAND U21 (PROBABLE): McLoughlin (MK Dons); Egan (Sunderland), Kiernan (Wigan Athletic), Duffy (Everton), Cunningham (Bristol City); Towell (Unattached), O’Kane (Bournemouth), Henderson (Arsenal); Brady (Manchester United), Barton (Coventry City), White (Leeds United).