Two of Norwich City’s young hopefuls begin competing against some of the world’s best young players on Monday, when the Republic of Ireland Under-21s begin their Toulon Tournament games.

Speedy winger Simon Power and prolific striker Adam Idah are both hoping to feature against China in their Group C opener (2.30pm UK time) at the prestigious tournament in France.

Power, 21, is eyeing his first U21 cap after being called up for the first time in March only to be forced to drop out with a calf injury which was picked up with Dutch loan club Dordrecht.

"If you look at any of the top international players from any top nation in the world at the moment, they've come through this tournament," the Canaries prospect said. "It's just a great feeling that I'll be playing in it as well and it just goes to show that I'll be playing against some of the best in the world.

"I have to give a lot of credit to the Ireland U21s manager, Stephen Kenny, for showing his faith and trust in me in selecting me again - given that I couldn't show what I could do during the previous call-up for the European qualifier against Luxembourg. But from my time in Holland I seemed to have impressed or caught his eye.

"So he's given me a second chance and I need to go and express myself and show people what I can do on the big stage, hopefully I get the chance."

City team-mate Idah, 18, did win his first U21 cap in March though and made quite the impact, with Power adding: "Adam really took his chance when he scored two goals against Luxembourg, so he's flying, doing very well."

The Irish will also face Mexico and Bahrain in Toulon, with the players having the added motivation of knowing their coach, Kenny, will be taking over the senior squad in 2020.

"We're not underestimating any of these teams at all," Power added. "The Chinese are renowned for being extremely fit and especially being in Toulon the heat will be a huge factor. A lot of these teams will be used to playing in the heat, unlike ourselves, us Irish are not used to playing in hot weather!

"We're taking it very seriously in the Ireland camp and focused on the first game against China, we're doing our homework on them and trying to exploit their weaknesses.

"So we'll just have to see but hopefully we can get the victory and get off to the perfect start."