Turkey eager to seize the initiative

Coach Hami Mandıralı has named a 24-man squad for Turkey's last two UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers which will determine whether they progress to October's play-offs for the tournament in Sweden next summer.

Must-win games
Sitting second in Group 2, a point behind their opponents in Bursa on 6 September, the Czech Republic, Turkey will guarantee their play-off place with two victories. Only the group winners are certain of progressing. The second game is against Armenia in Istanbul three days later, with Turkey still smarting from a 2-1 defeat in Yerevan on 20 August.

Group decider
Mandıralı told uefa.com: "Our defeat by Armenia increased the importance of the match against the Czech Republic – it will decide top spot in the group. We have to beat the Czechs and the players are aware of this. We want to defeat the Czech Republic, go top of the group, and then focus on the Armenia game in high spirits."

Turkey squad
Goalkeepers: Volkan Babacan (Fenerbahçe SK), Ufuk Ceylan (Manisaspor), Onur Recep Kıvrak (Trabzonspor).

Defenders: Aykut Demir (SBV Excelsior), Serdar Kurtuluş (Beşiktaş JK), Ceyhun Gülselam (SpVgg Unterhaching), Eren Güngör (Kayserispor), Emre Özkan (Beşiktaş JK), Orhan Şam (Hacettepe SK), Alparslan Erdem (Galatasaray AŞ), Ferhat Öztorun (Manisaspor).

Midfielders: İsmail Baydil (Denizlispor), Zafer Yelen (FC Hansa Rostock), Murat Ceylan (Gaziantepspor), Abdullah Durak (Kayserispor), Özer Hurmacı (Ankaraspor AŞ), Jem Paul Karacan (Reading FC), Murat Duruer (MKE Ankaragücü), Aydın Karabulut (Beşiktaş JK), Volkan Şen (Bursaspor).

Forwards: Batuhan Karadeniz (Beşiktaş JK), İlhan Parlak (Fenerbahçe SK), Mustafa Pektemek (Gençlerbirliği SK), Aydın Yılmaz (Galatasaray AŞ).