Gerard Lyttle appointed new Northern Ireland U17 and U19 manager

Lyttle was previously manager of Northern Ireland's under-16s

Former Cliftonville and Sligo Rovers manager Gerard Lyttle has been appointed as the new manager of Northern Ireland's under-19 and under-17 teams.

Lyttle, who most recently was head coach at the Irish FA's academy was previously in charge of NI's under-16s.

The Belfast man's selection was announced three days after Diarmuid O'Carroll withdrew his application due to an "administrative error", after the IFA announced his appointment on Friday.

Lyttle, 43, will experience his first competitive action in the new role next month when his U19 side face three European Championship qualifiers.

"This was a job I thought about an awful lot over the course of the past year or so," he said.

"There's that often-used saying when managers or players take a new job that they can't wait to get started but I can honestly say that my work started when I was accepted for my first interview for this role last month.

"There's no doubt that there is a lot of hard work ahead but this is something I'm used to and will never shy away from."

Lyttle took over as Cliftonville manager in 2015, initially on an interim basis following the departure of Tommy Breslin, before being offered the role permanently.

He enjoyed 19 months in the job before resigning from his post to take up the position with League of Ireland side Sligo.

"Gerard is well known and respected throughout the game in Northern Ireland and knows the current group of players in these squads well having worked with them for two years," said senior team manager Ian Baraclough.

"I'm really pleased for him and look forward to working with his staff closely to help develop this exciting crop of Northern Ireland talent."