Northern Ireland Under-21 captain Jonathan Tuffey is hoping his side can maintain the momentum that has seen them win two of their opening three European Championship qualifiers when they take on Israel at Glenavon's Mourneview Park.

Victory in their last match against Luxembourg has "instilled confidence in the squad" after a 3-0 defeat to Germany, according to Partick Thistle goalkeeper Tuffey. "We know it will be a tough match against Israel but we will hopefully have a high level of support from the home fans."

Roy Millar's side beat Moldova 1-0 away in the opening match of their group nine campaign.

The downside tonight is the absence of Scunthorpe striker Martin Paterson who, after five goals for the Coca-Cola Championship side this season, has returned home to deal with a domestic matter.

Dungannon's Mark McCallister has been drafted in and Millar remains positive ahead of the match.

"We have had some good training sessions this week and hopefully we can get another victory in front of a home crowd," said the manager.

However, he is well aware of how dangerous Israel can be. They were unlucky not to beat group favourites Germany last week and had to settle for a point.

Israel also showed the depth of talent at their disposal by winning the highly-respected Milk Cup youth tournament in Northern Ireland this year.