LIVERPOOL youngster Conor Coady will captain England at the U20 World Cup in Turkey later this month.

The 20-year-old, who made his senior debut for the Reds this season, was confirmed as skipper for Peter Taylor’s side by the FA.

Coady, who captained England to victory at the 2010 European Championships, has skippered his country throughout his ascent up the youth team ranks.

He said: “It’s fantastic. To be captain at any tournament is superb but to go and captain at a World Cup finals means I couldn’t be any happier.

“We’re focused going into the tournament and the team can’t wait for it to go and do the best we can.”

The midfielder made his senior Reds bow during the Europa League defeat to Anzhi Makhachkala back in November, and followed that up by making his Premier League debut as a substitute in the win at Fulham in May.

Taylor’s squad are currently at St George’s Park, Burton, as they finalise their preparations for the tournament. They are due to head to Antalya today, where they will be based for their first two group matches, against Iraq on June 23 and Chile on June 26. They will then head to Bursa to take on Egypt on June 29.

Taylor said: “Conor’s a good lad and a good, young professional who pushes himself and pushes his team-mates.

“He plays in a position which I think is quite important for a captain. He can get amongst his team-mates quickly and I’m pleased for him.

“He’s a very proud young player.”

Coady’s Liverpool team-mate Jon Flanagan is also part of the squad, along with Everton quintet John Stones, John Lundstram, Ross Barkley, Chris Long and Luke Garbutt, who was drafted into the squad last night in place of the injured Leeds left-back Sam Byram.

“I’ve been really pleased with everybody and we’re going to take a good squad out to Turkey,” said Taylor.

“Everybody’s fit and raring to go and we’re looking forward to the tournament now.

“This is the third training camp that we’ve had and every time we’ve met up the spirit has been even better so I’m really pleased with them. Overall, I’m really happy with the players that are getting on that plane.

“We’ve got different types of player and the type who can ask a question of an opponent so I’m looking forward to it.

“The good thing about the group is that you can tell the players are friends, they’ve met and played with each other before so it’s nice that they’ve been through the system at under-17 and under-19 level with England. That does help and not only are they friends but they’re trying to push each other to be better players as well which is important.”