Nolan looking forward to Waterford homecoming

The Republic of Ireland Under-21s face into an important few days, taking on Spain at Waterford’s RSC on Friday in a friendly fixture before moving on to Turner’s Cross where they will kick-off the Under-21 UEFA 2011 European Championship qualifying campaign against Turkey.

Coming off the back of some impressive recent performances, confidence is high amongst the young squad of players. Whilst Friday’s match against Spain will act as the perfect warm-up for the competitive game against Turkey, it will also give Ireland Under-21 captain Eddie Nolan the chance to play in front of his hometown crowd.

“It is brilliant to have the chance to play down in Waterford for Ireland and I’ve been excited about the game since it was first announced," Nolan said. "I’ve never really played down there since I went over to England, so it will be nice to go home. They usually attract good crowds and the people really enjoy their football, so it should be a great atmosphere on the night.”

Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Don Givens meanwhile was positive about Ireland's chances in the two key ties.

“Our recent results have been very encouraging – in our last three matches we have beaten Lithuania and drawn with both Portugal and Germany – so we go into these matches on good form," Givens said.

"Our most recent outing, against Germany at Turner’s Cross, was very pleasing.

"Performances such as this give the players great confidence going into the new campaign. We have assembled a very strong squad, one that is full of talented and very professional players.

“I am delighted to be playing a team like Spain because they are the sort of team we want to play to get ourselves ready for the next campaign," Givens added.

"Turkey will also be strong, but we are happy that we have them at home in the first match of the new campaign. If we get a good result against the group’s top seeds, that will leave us in a strong position heading into our next fixtures in the autumn.”