Live Under-21 European Championship final: Jay Stansfield keeps place for England against Germany

Telegraph

5 hours ago

Lee Carsley is confident England Under-21s have the quality, experience and self belief to beat Germany in tonight's Euros final and retain their continental crown.
Two years on from winning the competition for the first time since 1984, England are preparing for another final having narrowly avoided a shock group-stage exit.
Slovenia's defeat of the Czech Republic meant England edged through as Group B runners-up despite losing 2-1 to much-changed Germany, who they will face again in this evening's Bratislava showpiece.
Carsley's side have kicked on since then, with a 3-1 quarter-final win against favorites Spain followed by Wednesday's impressive 2-1 semi-final triumph against the Netherlands.
'One more step, which is the biggest step,' the Under-21s boss told BBC Radio 5 Live.
'But we've got that experience, we've done it before, so hopefully we can play with a lot of respect for opponents but try and impose our gameplan on them.
'We all set out with one objective, and that was to try and win it again.
'It's obviously easier said than done, but I wanted the lads to have the confidence and belief that we could do that.
'We tried to leave all of the hope at St George's (Park) and come out here with belief and I think that the players have got a great spirit about them.
'I think they really are together, they're committed to what they're trying to do and I'm very lucky as a coach, along with the rest of the staff, to work with these players.'
England overcame tough opposition and stifling heat in Slovakia to reach a second successive Euro Under-21s final.
Harvey Elliott smashed them ahead and, having been rocked by Noah Ohio levelling from distance, the Liverpool midfielder slalomed through to spectacularly seal a 2-1 semi-final triumph.