Hall to face Danes

Robert Hall will hope to continue his summer to remember when England's Under-17 side get their Nordic Tournament campaign under way on Tuesday.

Hall, still just 15 and a year shy of his GCSE exams, is expected to lead the attack for Kenny Swain's team when they take on Denmark at the Moan Stadium in Trondheim, Norway.

The teenager has enjoyed a fine few months, making his debut for the Hammers reserve side before being invited to train with Gianfranco Zola's first team and appearing in the first-team pre-season friendly at Grays Athletic earlier this month.

At international level, Hall helped England's U16s to win the Montaigu Tournament in France in April, and will hope to continue his development in Scandinavia.

England open their Group A campaign at 6.30pm UK time on Tuesday with a fixture against the Danes before facing the Faroe Islands at the Tydal Stadium on Wednesday and host nation Norway at the Overlands Minde Stadium on Friday.

Finland, Iceland, Scotland and Sweden will make up Group B, with the top two sides playing off for the title on 2 August. The second, third and fourth-placed teams in their respective groups will also meet for the minor placings.

Coach Swain believes the Three Lions can replicate their Montaigu form in Trondheim and lift another trophy.

"Having played in the Montaigu Tournament they now understand the demands of tournament football," he said. "They faced similar challenges there and they coped very well, so I'm confident they'll do the same in the Nordics.

"This is a very similar format, where we'll have so many games in a small space of time, so the experience they gained at the Montaigu's will certainly be beneficial."

"Denmark in the first game is a big challenge. Denmark, Sweden and Norway will all pose their own threat and the Scandinavian teams are always quite strong. And looking at the other group, we obviously should not discount Scotland, who we faced in the Victory Shield last year.

"It should be a difficult test, but one I'm looking forward to and I'm confident the players will gain a lot from it as well."

Following the Nordic Tournament, the U17s will turn their attention to their UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign, which begins in Azerbaijan in October.

For full fixtures and results from the Nordic Tournament, click here