A UNIVERSITY of Worcester student looks set to represent his country in an upcoming futsal European Championships after being called up to the England squad.

Paul McHugh will be among players in the visually impaired futsal national squad taking part in the IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation) European Championships.

The tournament, in Georgia, runs from Wednesday until December 15.

The 22-year-old said: “I feel honoured as always to be selected for the squad and I’m very much looking forwards to the challenge.

“I’m hopeful that the squad can improve upon our second place finish at last year’s World Championships.

“At the upcoming championships England stand a very good chance of progressing far and possibly winning the championships.

“We enter the tournament ranked second in the world so we are in a good place and have prepared well.”

McHugh, who is partially sighted but plays mainstream futsal has been a part of the England Visually Impaired Futsal Senior team from the age of 16, and since then has been capped 26 times, scoring 26 goals at major international competitions.

He began playing futsal aged 10 and as a teenager played for a number of professional football academies, including Burton Albion, Stoke City and Birmingham City.

“The fast paced and technical nature of the sport really attracted me and allowed me to develop both as a futsal and football player,” McHugh added.