Peacock ponders England expectations

On Wednesday John Peacock will lead England in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals for the fifth time in seven years. They were runners-up two years ago, and having qualified from a group containing Serbia, Portugal and Hungary with a game to spare, this season's squad are in position to do well again even though they are up against the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey in a tough pool. Peacock spoke to uefa.com about England's chances of success.

uefa.com: Did you expect to qualify with a game to spare?

John Peacock: If you had said before that we would ever have got to that situation I would never have believed you. I think without doubt it was one of the toughest groups of the seven. I'm pleased to have come out of the group unscathed with nine points but it was a really difficult one to come out of.

uefa.com: Can you reach the final again?

Peacock: We'll be delighted if we did go that far. But I'm looking at the eight teams in the tournament and I think any one of these eight could potentially win it, no doubt about that. It's probably the strongest since I've been involved with the FA, about seven years, and I just think we're glad to be here in a [FIFA U-17] World Cup year, with the mindset of trying to get to the semi-finals at least and go from there.

uefa.com: What do you know about your group opponents?

Peacock: Very little, if I'm honest. If you look at the other group, we've played Italy, Spain and France this year so we know a lot more about Group A than Group B. We'll do our homework, just as they'll do against us.

uefa.com: How do you rate this year's squad?

Peacock: There is definitely potential in the group. We've had a couple of defeats against Portugal, lost to France as well, it's been a big of a roller-coaster year to be honest but everything was always focused toward the Elite round, having got through a relatively difficult qualifying round group with Spain. All our attention was geared on getting the squad right for the Elite round. I think we did a good selection there, the lads were completely focused on that event. If we do the same again, who knows? There are some talented players but we have to focus as a team as well.

uefa.com: There should be some big crowds in the finals, especially when you play Germany on 9 May ...

Peacock: If you can get lots of people there in the European Championship finals, it is a great occasion for the lads and something they'll look back on in their career in years to come and say it was great to be part of it. I hope it's a successful one but I hope they get a lot out of it from a personal development point of view, and I'm sure they will.

uefa.com: Several players you have taken to U17 finals have quickly made their name on the senior stage, what benefits does this tournament bring?

Peacock: Getting them into world and European finals is crucial, that experience can only stand them in good stead in their long careers. To see the likes of [Daniel] Welbeck, and Theo Walcott who was in Italy in '05, without any doubt it is fantastic experience for them and it just goes to show that it is a foot on the ladder and hopefully we can keep climbing that ladder.