Stephen Robinson has been named as Northern Ireland's new Under-21 manager, succeeding Steve Beaglehole in the post.

The Irish Football Association have been busy rebuilding their coaching team since Michael O'Neill was installed as senior boss in December and yesterday announced Billy McKinlay as his assistant, with Tommy Wright the new goalkeeping coach.

Robinson, a seven-cap international for Northern Ireland, takes charge of his first match on February 29, a Euro 2013 qualifier in Macedonia.

Robinson, 37, previously worked as assistant manager of the Under-19s team.

"I am extremely honoured to be given this position with the Under-21s," he said. "With so many good young players coming through our ranks here in Northern Ireland it is an exciting time to be involved in the set-up.

"I know from my time with the Under-19s the calibre of players we have and it is an advantage, of course, that I have already worked with some of the current Under-21 players in my previous role, so I know what they are capable of."

O'Neill added: "Stephen is an exciting young coach with plenty of ambition and drive to succeed. He has tremendous experience as a player and I have absolutely no doubt that he will use that experience and become a first-class coach and manager.

"I feel he has the knowledge of the young players in this country and for me, he was an obvious choice to be the Under-21 manager."