On-loan West Ham United defender skippers national side in European qualifier

The 21-year-old, who is at Sixfields for the season after joining from West Ham United earlier in the summer, has one cap for the senior side but led out the Under-21s in Georgia on Tuesday as they began their qualification campaign for the 2027 European Championships.

Georgia are second seeds in Group F, which also features Germany (top seeds), Greece, Latvia and Malta, but Northern Ireland earned a deserved and impressive point thanks to Matty Orr, who cancelled out Luka Latsabidze’s first half strike.

Forbes himself went close on a couple of occasions, including having a goal disallowed as the visitors chased an equaliser. He also headed wide before Orr fired home midway through the second half.

Next up for Forbes and the Under-21s in the qualifiers are home games against Malta (October 9th) and Germany (October 14th) at The Oval during the next international break.

In the meantime, Forbes will head back to Northampton to reunite with his Cobblers team-mates ahead of Saturday’s League One game against Blackpool (12.30pm kick-off). Ethan Wheatley and Tyrese Fornah have already returned to Moulton after playing for their respective countries last week.