Rapidly rising Hammers midfielder Conor Coventry – who made his first team debut against Macclesfield in the EFL Cup – will be playing an important part for the Republic of Ireland in a trio important UEFA European U19 Championship qualifiers this week.

The 18-year-old is almost certain to be central when the team kick off their challenge against by facing Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands in Longford.

The 19 year old said: “I think it’s been good start to the season. The highlight was obviously the Macclesfield game, which I didn’t really expect coming into the season.

“It’s been a massive feeling for me and it was a night that could not have gone any better. It has just made me hungrier for more of that feeling.

“I just want to keep training with the first team whenever I can and get into more squads and keep trying to play well and doing my stuff in the Under-23s.”

But right now this afternoon’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovinais uppermost in his mind.

He declared: “The qualifiers we’re about to play in are the first qualifying phase for the U19 Euros next summer. In our group, we’ve got Bosnia and Herzegovina first, then the Faroe Islands and then Holland and the top two go through, so we probably need a couple of wins to get through to the next round, which is played in March next year.

“Obviously being at home is a massive advantage, but I think we’d expect to go through, even if we were playing away from Ireland because we want to put that type of pressure on ourselves.

“Being at home gives us an extra little edge, but we’ve got enough quality in the squad to not just go through, but win the group.”

“I love meeting up with the squad. I’ve known the boys for a few years now so there’s a great bond there. The main thing for all of us is playing for our country, which is a massive, massive honour.

“There’s so much pride in it and when we come together everyone is buzzing and ready to give everything for the shirt.”