Billy Stark will use the match against Italy, managed by Ciro Ferrara, as preparation for Scotland’s remaining UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches, which continue in May after this month’s test against the Netherlands on Wednesday, 29 February.
Billy Stark, National Youth Teams Coach, said: “This fixture will be a good test for us as Italy are an excellent side and like us, they have aspirations of reaching the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals next summer.
“They have won all five of their qualification matches so far and will provide us with difficult opposition.
“We have started our own qualifying campaign positively and this match, alongside our qualifier against the Netherlands later this month, will give us a good indication of the progress I believe we have made.
“All of our qualifying matches for this campaign have been based at St Mirren Park but we wanted to ensure that supporters from around the country had the opportunity to watch the under-21s and Easter Road is the perfect venue for a match like this.
“We received tremendous backing when we played our play-off from the last campaign at Easter Road and I am confident that support will be there for this match in April.”
Now this is a fantastic chance for the Scottish public not only to see some top class opposition but to get behind Billy Stark and his talented young side.
These boys are the future at international level and they should be given every bit of support by the Tartan Army, as they are every bit as important as Craig Levein’s men.
They have a fantastic coach in Billy Stark, and I am sure we will see a few more of the young Scots break through into the main Scotland squad before too long.
