Brian Eastwick praises players

England U19s Head Coach Brian Eastick has paid tribute to his players after leading them to the semi-finals of the European Championships for the first time since 2005.

The Young Lions finished top of Group A in Ukraine after Monday’s 7-1 demolition of Slovenia and are now set to face France in the first of Thursday’s semi-finals.

Eastick was quick to praise his squad’s achievement in reaching the last four after seeing his selections severely depleted by injuries and the withdrawal of numerous players from the group by their clubs.

Each country in the finals submitted a list of 30 players to UEFA for the tournament, with a final squad of 18 making the trip to Ukraine, but England have had their selections hampered with 12 of that initial list made unavailable.

Whilst some of them were injured, most players have been banned by their clubs to take part in a tournament which Eastick feels would’ve been 'a tremendous experience and benefit for any young player.'

“It’s a great achievement so far and it is for any team to reach a semi-final of a major international competition like this,” he said.

“That’s great credit to all of the players involved here and we now go onto the next stage where the bar will be raised again.

“I have to say I’m disappointed that many of the players which we put on our list of 30 have been denied the opportunity to experience it by their clubs, because a few injuries meant that several of them would have been able to do so and that playing in top level competitive games can only help in a player’s overall development rather than pre-season friendly games.”

England have been hardest hit in defence with Matthew Briggs and Kyle Walker, both full-backs, having had to play in central defence in the three games so far.

With injury also keeping Joe Mattock out of Monday’s game and midfield duo Danny Drinkwater and Matthew James absent, it meant that the Young Lions were down to the bare bones for the game.

“We named four central defenders in our list of 30, but none of them could come with us, which has left us in the situation we’re now in,” he added.

“It isn’t ideal, but I’ve been pleased with the way the players have responded and we’re now looking forward to the semi-final and we’ll see if a few of the injuries can clear up for the game.”