Northern Ireland Under-19 boss Gerard Lyttle has hailed the return of "leader" Dale Taylor to his squad.
The Nottingham Forest forward has been named in Lyttle's panel for next month's European qualifiers in the Czech Republic.
Northern Ireland will play the Czechs, Denmark and Kazakhstan in a four-team mini tournament from October 6-12.
Former LInfield youngster Taylor - who signed a professional deal with Forest last December - has recently returned from injury after impressing for the Championship club's Under-23 side.
He also played for Northern Ireland Under-21's during the summer in the back-to-back friendlies against Scotland.
"Dale Taylor is a big plus for us going into the qualifiers," Lyttle told Belfast Live.
"He is captain of the squad and a leader in the group. He is a very important player for us.
"Dale was injured but is back now. And we will benefit from that.
"Dale has so much ability as a footballer, but he is also a great role model. He leads by example on and off the pitch. The other boys look up to him and it rubs off on everyone.
"The boys respect Dale because of his attitude and work rate, and at the end of the day he just loves playing football. Give the kid a ball and that's when he is happy.
"It was unfortunate that he picked up an injury in pre-season, but hopefully he is over that now and he can kick on."
Taylor was involved in the Northern Ireland Under 21 squad that played two friendlies against Scotland during the summer, scoring in an opening 2-1 win.
"He played the two games and did really well," Lyttle said.
"It is unlucky he then picked up an injury, but as I said hopefully that's in the past and Dale gets a good run now.
"We have three tough games coming up but I am delighted with the squad we have been able to assemble."
