FORMER Southend United youngster Dominic Iorfa has been included in the England U21 squad for the European Championships.

The ex-St Thomas More High School student has been called up by England U21 manager Aidy Boothroyd.

Iorfa came through the ranks at Roots Hall before joining current club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 15.

The defender, 21, has since gone on to make close to 100 appearances for the Championship club.

A loan spell with Shrewsbury Town in the 2013/14 season allowed Iorfa to gain some experience, while he has since gone on to represent his country at U18, U20 and U21 level.

Iorfa will be looking to add to his 12 England U21 caps at the tournament, which is being held in Poland.

But he will face some stiff competition for a place in Boothroyd’s starting line-up at the European Championships.

Boothroyd, who replaced Gareth Southgate at the helm after he opted to take charge of the senior squad, feels that England have a good chance of winning the tournament.

Boothroyd said: “We have some good players and like for any international team, bringing them all together and getting them all to work as a single unit, is always the challenging part.

“But we’ve got players with big-game experience now, lads who have played in cup finals, play-off finals, big games and a couple of senior internationals.

“In this particular age group we have a very capable, mature squad with a nice balance between the soldiers and the artists, so I’m really looking forward to it.

“I think we’re well equipped on paper and it’s now about putting some hard work in on the grass, which we’ve been doing over the last three weeks to be ready for the tournament.”

Iorfa will be joined in Poland by Jacob Murphy and Cauley Woodrow.

Murphy, now with Norwich City, and Fulham striker Woodrow spent time on loan with Southend United during the 2013/14 season.

Southampton defender Sam McQueen, who made 18 appearances for Blues during a loan spell in 2016, is on stand-by after being omitted from the initial squad of 28. Boothroyd has trimmed the squad to 23.