Young hopefuls can handle public interest, pledges Idah

As Mick McCarthy heaped more praise on Stephen Kenny’s Ireland U21s, striker Adam Idah is adamant the squad are comfortable with the growing hype surrounding them.

This evening’s Uefa qualifier against Sweden in Kalmar should provide an insight as to the level of the Ireland squad but so far, so good for a grouping tipped to supply a number of graduates to the senior squad. Back-to-back home wins in their opening pair of fixtures against Luxembourg (3-0) and Armenia (1-0) were lauded not just for the results but the style factor.