Ireland's Will Smallbone believes that 'fans can help Ireland reach their debut U21 European Championships.
Ireland will play in a Euro play-off against Israel next month and Jim Crawford's side are being tipped to reach the finals.
Smallbone, who is joined Stoke on loan from Southampton this summer has given an exclusive interview to FAITV on the team's ambitions.
"The fans can help us so much I think, to see a packed out Tallaght Stadium would be unbelievable, and I think that could be the edge that we need to go through," he said.
The 22-year-old scored his first goals for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, with a brace in a 3–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 in June. He then by scored a volley from outside the box three days later, to open the scoring in a 3–1 win over Montenegro U21.
Ireland lost out to Italy in their group, but Smallbone has claimed there is a 'real togetherness' in the Ireland U21 group despite the loss.
"I think that it's a good sign of our mentality, that we wanted to be pushing Italy all the way, and I think we did."
"I think there's a real togetherness in this group, everyone looks forward to going away with Ireland and looks forward to playing the games and I think, once you get that winning bond together, then it can't really be broken."
Smallbone also recently gave an interview to Hampshire Live about his move to Stoke and said that he was buzzing to move to bet365 Stadium to work with former Northern Ireland boss Michael O' Neill.
"I'm buzzing to be here," Smallbone said in July. "From the moment that I found out that Stoke were interested, knowing Gavin [Kilkenny] and John [O'Shea] who are here and speaking to them about the club, they've had nothing but good things to say. Once I knew there was serious interest, I was looking forward to coming.
"It is Stoke. It is a massive club, and you think of it as a Premier League club that's unfortunately dropped back into the Championship."
"The big club and big fanbase is a big pull for anyone. I spoke to the manager [Michael O'Neill] a few times and he was saying he wants to play a good style of football that will suit me. He has got big ambitions for the season, and they match with my ambitions, so together, hopefully we can go on to good things."
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