Republic of Ireland Under-21s manager Don Givens was today left contemplating a daunting qualifying task to reach the European Championship finals in 2009.

Givens' Ireland face England, Portugal, Bulgaria and Montenegro in Group Three - with the top two sides heading into a play-off.

Givens could not have picked a tougher assignment. "This is as difficult a group as they come," said the manager. "Top seeds in the group, Portugal, have a tremendous track record at under-age level - and Bulgaria are traditionally strong.

"It is the first time Montenegro have entered the competition, and that's the only reason they are bottom seed. We know they have good players, and they could be the surprise package in the group.

"As for England, they are clearly the big draw for us. They bring an enormous interest to the group, because of the sporting rivalry between Ireland and England."

As part of Ireland's preparations for the qualifying campaign which begins in June, a 20-man squad heads to Madeira later this month to defend the Tournament trophy they won a year ago.

Ireland face Slovakia on the 27th, Madeira 24 hours later and then the Portuguese on March 2nd.

"The Madeira Tournament is an ideal build-up to the qualification matches ahead of us later in the year," added Givens.

"Aside from our success in winning the trophy twice in recent years, quite often players have used this as their platform to gain promotion to the senior squad."