Kazakhstan U21 vs England U21. European Under-21 Championship Qualifying Group I.
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Thursday 6 October 2016 08:58, UK
England U21 interim boss Aidy Boothroyd is ready to hand in-form Tammy Abraham a belated birthday present.
The on-loan Bristol City striker turned 19 on Sunday and is in line to make his Under-21 debut in Kazakhstan on Thursday as the Young Lions close in on qualification for Euro 2017.
Abraham has netted 11 goals in 14 games in all competitions since moving to Ashton Gate from Chelsea for the season and is the Sky Bet Championship's leading scorer.
Boothroyd has worked with Abraham in the U20s and, with the Young Lions needing one win from their final two Group 9 games to reach next year's tournament in Poland, is willing to let him lead the line.
"I know him, I wouldn't have any problems," he said. "I said to him when he first arrived if he'd scored any goals on the way back from the toilet? It just seems whatever he touches goes in, it's great for Bristol City, great for Chelsea and really good for England.
"He is playing at a good level, scoring goals and showing people that, actually, we have a lot of talented English players in the system who just need an opportunity and someone brave enough to play them."
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford followed Gareth Southgate to the senior side with Southgate in charge following Sam Allardyce's exit after the Daily Telegraph's investigation into corruption last week.
Rashford scored a hat-trick in his only Under-21 appearance in last month's 6-1 win over Norway which put England on the brink of winning Group 9 but Boothroyd, who has stepped up to replace Southgate, is comfortable with his options.
He added: "We also have Duncan [Watmore] who also made it into [Sunderland's] first team and Demarai Gray is doing great and trying to make a stake for a permanent place at [Leicester]."
England are two points ahead of Switzerland with a game in hand and also host Bosnia at Walsall on Tuesday but Boothroyd wants to wrap up qualification in Aktobe.
"The sooner the better, that's what we want," he said. "It's not going to be easy but we have enough in there, enough experience and talent to finish the job."
