Boss confident U21s can take 'biggest step'

LEE Carsley is confident England Under-21s have the quality, experience and self-belief to beat Germany in tomorrow's Euros final and retain their continental crown.

- BY SIMON PEACH, PA

Two years on from winning the competition for the first time since 1984, the Young Lions 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 Saturday's Bratislava showpiece.

Carsley's side have kicked on since then, with a 3-1 quarter-final win against favourites 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 to impose our gameplan on them.

"We all set out with one objective, and that was to try and win it again.