Scotland Under-19s will take on France tonight in Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena (kick off 7pm) as they eye November’s Euro Qualifiers in Luxembourg.
They will play the hosts, Armenia and Czech Republic as they aim for their first major finals since 2006 when they reached the final.
Head coach Donald Park has named a 20-player squad for the first match of a double header against France with the second game set to be played behind closed doors on 6 October.
Hibs’ duo Ryan Porteous and Fraser Murray are included in the squad along with Daniel Baur from Hearts.
The squad were together last month for three fixtures in Serbia where they took on the hosts first up and lost 3-1 with Jack Aitchison scoring Scotland’s only goal.
In the second match against Ukraine, Scotland took the lead through Glenn Middleton before Dunfermline Athletic’s Callum Smith notched twice in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
The competition ended in a 2-2 stalemate with Montenegro where Jack Aitchison scored his second goal in the tournament.
Involved in the squad for the French matches is Arsenal’s Charlie Gilmour (pictured) who was recently on the bench in their Europa League tie against BATE Borisov.
Ahead of the match Donald Park said: “It was good to be away with the squad last month as it helped us gel and we’re excited about the group of players meeting up again.
“We shouldn’t be scared of playing France, we should be relishing the opportunity as there will be so much we can take out of the two upcoming games.”
Entry is free for SSC members as well as £5 for adults and £2 for concessions.
The match will be streamed live on the Scotland National Team’s Facebook and YouTube pages with commentary coming from Sky Sports’ Luke Shanley and The Scottish Sun’s Kenny Millar.
Scotland Under-19s squad
Goalkeepers
Aidan McAdams (Rangers)
Kieran Wright (Rangers)
Defenders
Daniel Baur (Heart of Midlothian)
Robbie Deas (Celtic)
Wallace Duffy (Celtic)
Ryan Porteous (Hibernian)
Stephen Welsh (Celtic)
Aidan Wilson (Rangers)
Midfielders
Jamie Barjonas (Rangers)
Lewis Ferguson (Hamilton Academical)
Charlie Gilmour (Arsenal)
Jordan Holsgrove (Reading)
Fraser Hornby (Everton)
Jonny Mitchell (Falkirk) PS
Forwards
Jack Aitchison (Celtic)
Michael Johnston (Celtic)
Glenn Middleton (Norwich City)
Fraser Murray (Hibernian)
Zak Rudden (Rangers) PS
Callum Smith (Dunfermline Athletic)
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
