Teenage striker Harry Crawford has been called-up for the Republic of Ireland's under 19 squad for the first time.

Crawford will fly out to the Ukraine tomorrow morning to represent Ireland in the Under 19 Euro Championships Elite Stages.

The 18-year-old has caught the eye of Eire's selectors following a string of performances for the Southend first team towards the end of this season.

And Crawford is excited about representing Ireland following a whirlwind couple of months.

"It is a great honour and a really good way for me to end the season," Crawford told southendunited.co.uk.

"I fly out on Wednesday to Kiev and we will spend the first seven days in a training camp.

"Then we play England in our first game in a really tough group."

Ireland has also been paired alongside the Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

And Crawford, who qualifies for the Republic through his grandparents, is looking forward to linking up with the squad.

"My grandmother was born in Dublin and my grandfather was also born in Ireland," he said.

"Quite a few of the Ireland team are from Premier League sides like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

"So it will be a great experience to be playing alongside some of them.

"Hopefully we can do well and progress through to the finals in France later this year."

Ireland's opening match against England takes place on May 26 before they face the hosts, Ukraine, on May 28 finishing their group matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina on May 31.