England target semi-final berth

England go into Matchday 2 of UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group B knowing a win against hosts Belgium would take them into the semi-finals - but the Netherlands and Iceland are both looking to pick up their form ahead of their Friday night encounter.

Respect for hosts
While Belgium and the Dutch played out a 2-2 draw on Wednesday, England defeated Iceland 2-0 to put themselves in a strong position with the promise of more to come. Manager John Peacock said: "It was important for us to keep a clean sheet. We did well in the first half, but not so good in the second and I think that should improve for the next match. We already know Belgium pretty well, as we [beat them 2-0] in a friendly in October. But I know they have been gearing up for this home tournament, have made some changes, and I expect them to be much stronger than they were then."

'Tough task'
Indeed, Belgium were only three minutes away from victory against the Netherlands before a late equaliser, leaving home coach Bob Browaeys to say: "It feels like we lost two points, seeing the chances we had in the second half to go 3-1 up. Maybe we would have been happy with a draw before the match. Against the English it will be a tough task again." However, there is good news for Browaeys as captain Dimitri Daeseleire is training after a suspected calf injury suffered just before the second Dutch leveller turned out to be cramp.

Dutch frustration
Later on in Ronse, the Netherlands are looking to improve their finishing as they face Iceland having not take their chances in the derby. "We might have dominated the first half, but when you do you also have to score," said and Jong Oranje coach Albert Stuivenberg. "Players will have to learn to win matches as well. Before the Iceland match there is not much time left to work on that, there is only time for recovery training."

Iceland blows
Iceland not only went down 2-0 to England, but within ten minutes lost goalkeeper Trausti Sigurbjörnsson to a head injury which has put him out of the tournament. Captain Eggert Rafn Einarsson told uefa.com: "Losing our keeper so early in the match was another blow for us, after conceding so early. The fact it was followed by another goal from England so soon after did not help either. We have to recover from these blows. The only thing we can do against the Netherlands is work harder and try to have the ball more, and move it about more." However, star striker Kolbeinn Sigthórsson could make a welcome return from a hip injury. "He's getting better," said coach Lúkas Kostic. "I expect he will play, I don't know how much. I'm sure we will play much better."