Norwich City’s Republic of Ireland duo set for Toulon tournament

Stephen Kenny's Irish party have been drawn in Group C of the annual French summer tournament, which starts on June 1, and also features holders England.

The Republic face pool fixtures against Bahrain, China and Mexico.

"We're extremely excited about going to the Toulon tournament and this is a fantastic opportunity for the players to express themselves in one of the most prestigious under-age international tournaments," said Kenny, speaking to his country's official site.

"We've never qualified for the European Championships at U-21 level so this tournament represents the highest level we'd have played at and we're set to play Mexico, China and Bahrain's Olympic squads, as they prepare to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

"It's also crucially important that we continue to build momentum throughout the year after the win over Luxembourg and looking ahead to the qualifiers in October and November."

Highly-rated striker Idah has been a permanent feature for the Republic at various youth levels. The prolific frontman notched a brace in that Luxembourg win on his Under-21s debut this past season, and his club form at development level saw him shortlisted for the Premier League Two player-of-the-season.

Flying wide player Power was on loan at FC Dordrecht in Holland but had to pull out of earning his first Under-21 cap through injury, which cut short his loan stint.

England, who have won the tournament three years in a row, have yet to name their squad but the likes of Norwich City's Championship title winners Max Aarons and Ben Godfrey could be in the shake up. Both featured for England at age group level during the past season.

Former Norwich ace Nathan Redmond plus future England stars Paul Gascoigne, David Beckham and Robbie Fowler all featured for the Young Lions in previous Toulon events.

The three group winners progress to a knock out semi-final stage, along with the best placed second placed side from the 12-team tournament.