Jim Crawford has challenged his Republic of Ireland players to take inspiration from the senior team's near miss against Portugal as they prepare to launch their own qualifying campaign.
Crawford and his squad watched on television as Ireland came within a minute of beating the Euro 2016 winners in their World Cup qualifier in Faro on Wednesday before Cristiano Ronaldo’s late intervention secured a 2-1 win for the home side.
But with so many of Stephen Kenny’s players having emerged from the under-21 ranks in the last year, the pathway to the senior set-up is well-trodden and represents an added incentive.
Speaking ahead of his side’s opening European Under-21s Championship qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Crawford said: "I have to say it was a fantastic performance.
"I just sent Stephen a text last night, a heartfelt message saying it was a tough one to take, which it was, because I thought the performance was exceptional.
"But looking a little bit deeper into it, you’ve got to be excited. When you look past the result and all that, I’d say we’re in a nice place with the young lads coming through."
West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry was particularly thrilled for 19-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who saved Ronaldo’s first-half penalty as Ireland gave as good as they got.
Coventry, who this week joined Sky Bet Championship Peterborough on a season-long loan deal, said: "I was buzzing for him, to be honest, because how many people can say they’ve saved a penalty from Ronaldo? I was just buzzing for him, it just brought a smile to my face.
"I know the type of lad Gav is. He’s humble, hard-working and someone that really deserves that, so I was just really happy for him."
Crawford’s men will hope to fare better than the seniors in Zenica on Friday as they bid to become the first Ireland team to reach the under-21s finals, although they have their work cut out having been drawn into a group which also includes Italy, Sweden, Montenegro and Luxembourg.
The manager said: "This is their learning ground, under-21s football, and we want them playing these challenging games and with Montenegro away and Luxembourg away – they are different types of challenges for these players.
"Then you’ve got the two teams you can’t ignore from the group, Italy and Sweden, strong nations historically, so the lads are relishing it, and so am I and so are the staff."
