Republic of Ireland Under-21s boss Jim Crawford has told his players their European Championship qualification dream lies in their own hands.
Ireland face Sweden in Boras on Tuesday evening knowing a repeat of the 1-0 victory they secured in Dublin in November would take them to within a point of the Group F leaders, on whom they have a game in hand.
Second-placed Italy are level with the Swedes on 14 points after a surprise 1-1 draw in Montenegro on Friday, and Crawford believes that result has blown the group wide open.
He said: "It's in our hands, qualification is in our hands if we can win – automatic qualification too, with Montenegro taking points from Italy the other night, so that’s certainly the aim to go and win the game.
"If we can, we go a point behind Sweden with a game in hand and that’s our target for now, so it’s a huge game. It’s probably for me the most important Under-21s game to date.
"The players know the importance of it. It’s going to be a fantastic learning environment for them, to be playing in games of this stature."
Ireland have never qualified for the finals and endured a series of near-misses, and Crawford knows how fine the margins between success and failure can be having seen his side lose 2-0 to Italy in November before Ollie O’Neill’s stoppage-time winner secured the points against Sweden.
He said: "There’s no point in looking back and being disappointed. The thing is you’ve got to look forward and learn and embrace those disappointments.
"This Under-21s team, yes it’s about development, but how you develop is learning from adversity, learning from those mistakes and kick on as an individual, as a team hopefully to qualify for the European finals.
"But as an individual, can you tidy up on little things in your game that can springboard you into the senior team?
"Look, we certainly have a talented group of players here that will do their country proud when we play Sweden tomorrow."
