Nwaneri set for full England Under 21 debutpublished at 15:23 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March
England Under-21s v Portugal Under-21s (19:45 GMT)
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesEthan Nwaneri is set for a full England Under-21s debut against Portugal.
The Arsenal attacker made his Young Lions debut off the bench on his 18th birthday in Friday’s 5-3 friendly defeat in France.
He eight goals in 29 games for the Gunners this season and is in line to start in the friendly game at The Hawthorns this evening.
“Yeah, definitely. I think he’s showing that he’s more than
capable.” boss Lee Carsley said when asked if Nwaneri could start. “It was important we tried to share the minutes around
in this camp.
“I don’t think anyone needs to do two 90s (minutes). So yeah, Ethan’s got a
good chance of starting.”
However, skipper Taylor Harwood-Bellis has returned to Southampton for a scan on a thigh problem.
The centre-back came off in the second half of the defeat in Lorient with the severity of the issue unknown.
Carsley said: “Taylor’s been sent back to the club, he’ll get a scan on his thigh. It seemed OK but we’ve said in the past we’ll never take any chances with the players. As soon as there’s an issue they go back to the club.”
