Youthful Ireland under-21s aim to get campaign back on track on Tallaght return 

Jim Crawford's young charges must bounce back from Andorra defeat.

EXCITING PROSPECT: Republic of Ireland winger Jaden Umeh. Pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho

The Republic of Ireland under-21s mission to bounce back from a desperately disappointing four-nil loss to Andorra last time out sees Jim Crawford's side take on Moldova at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday evening (kick-off, 5.15pm).

That defeat was the second of two in the November window of the Euro qualifiers, the first of which was a two-nil defeat to England - a game they acquitted themselves extremely well in. 

With destiny still in their own hands, three points on their return to Tallaght is imperative, and Crawford is intent on getting the campaign back on track at the first opportunity, albeit four months down the line. 

"That's the difficulty with international football because it was the second game of a window," Crawford said. "I know players go back to their clubs and they had a game on that Saturday, and that soon gets forgotten about.

"With myself and the staff, it's been quite tough, because you're digesting what went wrong, what we need to improve on... we need to be a little bit more ruthless with our decision-making, with our forward runs, not turning down crosses, getting numbers in the box. And that's not only against Andorra, but that was true of the campaign thus far. 

"We need to be a little bit more clinical higher up the pitch."

Crawford has picked a youthful squad - one he remarks as perhaps the youngest he's ever had - for the Moldova and Kazakhstan meetings, including new boys Jaden Umeh, Aaron Ochoa-Moloney and Sean Patton. 

It's reward for the work the trio have put in at club level, with 18-year-old former Cork City winger Umeh impressing at under-19 and under-23 level at José Mourinho's Benfica. 

"This is another sort of challenge for him at this level," Crawford said of the winger, who, along with striker Michael Noonan, shone at the under-17 World Cup. "I'm looking forward to working with Jaden for the foreseeable [future], because he's an enormous talent."

Trent Koné-Doherty is another wide-man who will bring confidence into the international set-up. Having been a leading light against England late last year, he has since secured a permanent move to Norwegian outfit Molde from Liverpool.

"He's gone to Molde and he's played really well. He had a really good window for us against England and even against Andorra; he showed bits and pieces," Crawford added.

"So he's another one that's coming through the system that is certainly turning heads with the level of performances he's given."

While the aforementioned duo Umeh and Koné-Doherty are likely to occupy one of, if not both wide berths, in-form Shamrock Rovers youngster Adam Brennan has been forced to pull out of the window through injury, having originally received a maiden call-up. 

Crawford will also be without captain James Abankwah, who is part of Heimir Hallgrímsson's senior setup for the World Cup play-off semi-final in Prague. 

Former Dundalk and St Pat's boss, and current Bohemians number two Stephen O'Donnell has linked up with the squad in the past week as Crawford's assistant.

"Stevie's been really good; his attention to detail is exceptional. What I like about Stevie is that he was a manager before and brings in a different set of lenses.

"He's brought renewed energy to the group. I think his ideas are excellent. I've known that now for a long time, how engrossed he is with football and that's what you want around you."