Noel King 'optimistic' ahead of Republic of Ireland U21s clash against Israel

Noel King has challenged the Republic of Ireland U21s to continue an unbeaten start to their European Championship qualifying campaign by ending Israel's.

Ireland currently sit top of Group 5, but just a point clear of Germany, who have played a game fewer and who trounced Azerbaijan 6-1 in Cottbus at the weekend.

They enjoyed a perfect start to their campaign with back-to-back victories over Kosovo and the Azerbaijanis, but saw two points slip from their grasp on Thursday when Norway left Tallaght with a 0-0 draw.

Manager King said: "We go into the game full of confidence. We did well against Norway and were disappointed not to come out of the game with a win in the end.

"We played really well in patches and created plenty of chances throughout the game, so we can use that and go forward into the Israel game tomorrow full of confidence.

"Israel will pose a different kind of threat. They're not as physical as Norway, very technical in their play and we'll have to adjust our approach slightly to face up to that challenge.

"They can give us problems but we can give them problems as well and we can only be optimistic going into the game."

Israel will arrive in Tallaght having won first time out at home to Azerbaijan before returning from Norway with a point after a 0-0 draw.