European Under-21s Championship: Republic U21s 'will not be fazed' by Israel big names

Republic of Ireland U21 manager Jim CrawfordInpho

Republic of Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford saw his side draw 1-1 with Israel in the first leg on Friday night

Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Jim Crawford says his side will not be fazed by Israel's decision to turn to their big names ahead of the European Under-21s Championship play-off second leg between the teams on Tuesday.

The sides go head-to-head in Tel Aviv with their tie finally balanced after Friday's 1-1 draw at Tallaght Stadium.

The winners will compete next summer's competition in Georgia and Romania.

Israel manager Guy Luzon has added a number of senior players to his squad.

The additions for the clash at Bloomfield Stadium include Celtic frontman Liel Abada, Maccabi Netanya midfielder Eden Karzev and Olympiacos defender Doron Leidner, who all started the senior team's 2-1 Nations League win over Albania on Saturday.

"They have come down and strengthened their team for the game, but it doesn't faze us," said Crawford.

"It is in the back of my mind that it is a compliment with their manager needing to dip into the senior team.

"But I think we can play a little better than we did on Friday evening, as good a performance as it was. I do think we have another couple of levels to go, and hopefully we can go there on Tuesday."

Ireland have never qualified for the finals and have already defied the odds to secure a play-off berth having started the campaign as third seeds in their group.

They had to come from behind in Dublin to ensure they flew out to Israel level in the tie after Idan Gorno had put the visitors ahead, and it was 17-year-old Brighton striker Evan Ferguson who did the trick with a second-half header, his first international goal at Under-21 level.

Ferguson has been nursing a minor ankle injury since, but Crawford, who revealed he is likely to make changes, expects him to be fit and available for selection.

Asked about the teenager's impact, he said: "He has unbelievable potential, he really has. He's still young. He has a long way to go in terms of reaching his ceiling, but he's been excellent since the first day he's come in.

"He's got a fantastic physical presence, a really good first touch, he can score goals as he showed the other night.

"We've seen him at close hand in our training sessions and he's a special talent. It's high potential at this point in time."

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