Hearts and Hibs players named in the Scotland squad for the European Under-17 Championship

The finals take place in Hungary and coach Brian McLaughlin has chosen a strong group

Two Hearts players and three Hibs players have been named in the Scotland squad for this month’s European Under-17 Championship in Hungary.

Tynecastle full-back Rocco Friel and winger Bobby McLuckie are included alongside the Hibs defender Owen Hastie and Easter Road midfield pair Rudi Molotnikov and Jacob MacIntyre.

Coach Brian McLaughlin has named a 20-man squad for the tournament which also contains the former Hearts midfielder Ewan Simpson, now with English Premier League club Aston Villa.

Young players from Tynecastle and Easter Road have forced their way into McLaughlin’s squad with encouraging displays for Scotland Under-17s in recent months.

Hearts teenagers sampled competitive action this season in the Lowland League with the club’s B team. Some of their Hibs counterparts took part in the UEFA Youth League against a few of the Continent’s top sides.

The Under-17 Euros take place from May 17 until June 2. Scotland have been handed an extremely tough task to progress in the competition after the draw placed them in Group C with current champions France, plus Germany and Portugal.

The young Scots will play all of their matches in the city of Debrecen in eastern Hungary. They meet France first on May 17 at the Nagyerdei Stadion in a 4.30pm kick-off, then it’s on to the DEAC Stadion to face Portugal three days later at 3pm. Group C finishes with Scotland against Germany at 3pm on May 23, also in the DEAC Stadion.

Hearts and Hibs players are in the Scotland Under-17 squad.

The top two nations in each group will progress to the quarter-finals. Scotland’s best performance in the competition came back in 2014 when they reached the semi-finals before losing to the Netherlands.

Scotland Under-17 squad in full:

Rory Mahady (Leeds United), Callan McKenna (Queen’s Park), Josh Dede (Celtic), Rocco Friel (Hearts), Mitchel Frame (Celtic), Ruari Ellis (Kilmarnock), Owen Hastie (Hibernian), Leyton Grant (Rangers), Bailey Rice (Rangers), Kyle Ure (Celtic), Gabriel Forsyth (Hamilton Accies), Rudi Allan-Molotnikov (Hibernian), Lennon Connolly (Queen’s Park), Lennon Miller (Motherwell), Jacob MacIntyre (Hibernian), Rory Wilson (Aston Villa), Bobby McLuckie (Hearts), Ryan One (Hamilton Accies), Ewan Simpson (Aston Villa), Daniel Cummings (Celtic).